


Once Upon a Halloween

by Anorlost



Series: Once Upon a Series [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Character, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Meta, Relationship Negotiations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:13:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7769788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anorlost/pseuds/Anorlost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron tries to figure out how to make amends with his nemesis while Principal Hux tries to figure out how the bloody hell relationships work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how long it will be between chapter updates, but the second chapter of yet another high school AU is here.

“Gummybear…say there’s this guy you said something as a joke to, but it turned out that thing was kind of a slur…” 

“What did you do to Principal Hux this time?” 

Finn Vanen gave Poe an accusing look from over the top of his ham and cheese sandwich.  Poe was slightly shocked that his boyfriend caught onto him so quickly and looked about the cafeteria to see if anyone had overheard.  Everyone seemed to be carrying on as usual.  Cliques of girls were chatting with each other.  A couple of geeky kids who risked bringing their 3DSs to school were playing something.  Probably Pokémon.  There was something shady going on in one of the corners, and there were people rushing in an out as they had either just finished or were about to get some extra work or practice done. 

Poe sighed slightly, “Nothing, just…a few weeks ago I said something to him and I didn’t know it was, you know, bad.” 

Finn groaned lightly, “One of these days he’s going to snap and kick you out of his school.  What was it?  Another Welsh joke?” 

Poe gave another look around, “Gummybear, this is important.  What I’m about to tell you has to be kept to yourself.  Cross your heart, swear to god, and all that fun stuff.” 

“What is it?” asked Finn, who seemed more concerned the more adamant Poe became. 

Poe sighed, “He said he was…” Poe lowered his voice, “…asexual…” before continuing, “…I only ever heard about it in biology class when we talked about plants and I was trying to be funny so I…well I called him a plant person and he got kind of mad.  I said it again and…he didn’t say anything but…” 

“What’s asexual?” asked Finn. 

“It’s this thing where people aren’t attracted to other people.  I didn’t even know it existed.  Nobody ever told me about it,” explained Poe, “But I found this forum online and started talking with some people and they told me I…kind of called him a slur.  I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even know it was offensive to call someone that!  But…”

Poe sighed as he looked down at his barely touched BLT, “I’ve been called a few off-colour things before.  I never liked it.  I thought I’d never do something like that to someone else and…it was an accident.  I didn’t mean to and…now I don’t know how to apologize.” 

Finn offered him a zip-lock bag full of carrot sticks.  Poe took one and slowly took it into his mouth, biting off millimeter by millimeter through the side of his mouth like Bugs Bunny in those old cartoons.  Finn didn’t seem to know what to say, but tried anyways, “Have you tried just saying sorry?” 

“Principal Hux is my nemesis.  Even if I could find it in me to get the words out, I don’t think he’d believe them,” said Poe glumly. 

Finn arched his brow at the melodramatic statement, “Your _nemesis_?” 

“Yeah, my nemesis,” replied Poe, “The same way Coach Phasma is your nemesis.” 

Finn leaned over the table and clamped a hand over Poe’s mouth, “Dude, she’ll hear you!” 

“She’s not even in the cafeteria,” Poe protested through Finn’s hand. 

“She’ll still hear you…” muttered Finn worriedly as he pulled back, “She hears everything…it’s like some serious 1984-George-Orwell-freakiness.” 

“Who?” asked Poe. 

“An old book I’m reading for an advanced class,” said Finn with a shrug, “It’s about this guy who lives in a world that’s all crazy communist.  You know the show Big Brother, right?  Well, the shows based on this concept in the book where there’s someone called Big Brother who’s always watching everything you do.” 

“Huh,” said Poe, trying to recall what he was reading for his own English class.  Chrisalis?  Chrystal-lids?  Something like that.  It sounded a lot like X-Men when he read it, which made him just want to watch the X-Men movies, so he just wound up watching X-Men instead of reading the book and bull shat his way through chapter reports. 

“Anyways, Halloween’s coming up…” said Finn. 

Poe brightened up immediately.  He had spent hours planning out how to make their costume, looking at materials, checking out the school regulations to make sure it wasn’t something Finn could get in trouble for, trying to make it perfect.  For some reason he could never focus on big school projects but when it was something like this he could spend hours shopping around, drawing up plans, and scheduling time to work on it.  He beamed brightly, “I’m so excited to be the butt…” 

“About that…” said Finn cautiously, “I was thinking, the new girl, Rey…I don’t think she has anyone to dress up with.” 

“Are you kidding?  Rey’s awesome!” protested Poe, “She kills at lacrosse, she’s amazing in like, every subject ever, even Principal Hux likes her!  She’s probably got people begging her to be in their group.  Or maybe she’s got a mind blowing costume in mind already.” 

“I don’t think she does.  I mean, I see lots of people talk to her but I’ve never seen anyone hang out with her,” noted Finn.  He looked at Poe a bit sheepishly, “I was kind of wondering if it was okay if I asked her to be in a group with us.” 

“Of course it’s okay, but I’m just not sure how we can be a horse with three people,” said Poe quizzically. 

“We…might have to drop the horse thing…” Finn blurted out. 

Poe was upset that all his planning was about to go the way of many a dead goldfish.  How could he not be?  But it was equally impossible to be mad at Finn.  His beautiful cinnamon roll of a boyfriend who wanted to make sure the new girl didn’t feel left out during a school event.  So he whined in the most petulant, over the top way possible, “B-But…I wanted to be the butt!  Gummy bear!  You monster!  You fiend!” 

Poe continued to melodramatically wail as he through his arm over his eyes and leaned back, accidentally head-butting someone as they passed behind him.  He laughed and began to turn, “Oh, sorry dude, didn’t see you there.” 

“It’s quite alright.” 

Poe froze as he continued to turn around extra slowly.  The second he spotted a blue cardigan he expected trouble.  He smiled extra wide as he looked up at the stern face of Principal-I-will-hunt-you-down-and-gut-you-like-a-fish-over-dresscode-violations-Hux.  The Principal arched his eyebrow slightly before hiking a folder full of papers higher up in his arms.  Poe tittered nervously as he reached out and smoothed down Hux’s sweater, “Oh…wasn’t expecting it to be you…how’s Fleur Delacour?” 

“Your generation has lost all the nuance and wit that once came with making references,” said Hux, infuriatingly unreadable in his delivery.  He reached into his folder and pulled out a paper, “Heard you asking after this.  Do be kind enough to spread the word that a Halloween event is no excuse to come to school half-naked.” 

“What about _all_ the way naked?  I had a dream like that once,” replied Poe. 

“Charming,” said Hux, placing the paper on the cafeteria table, “Stay out of trouble Dameron.  And Vanen…” 

Finn practically squeaked when he was addressed and held his sandwich in front of himself like a shield.  If anything made Principal Hux his nemesis, it was this.  He terrified his Gummy Bear.  That was reason enough to do immature battle with the man until his dying day.  Which would probably be sooner rather than later if the Republican candidate got elected…  

“Nice assist last Wednesday,” the Principal mumbled before shuffling his papers into place and walking towards the cork board. 

Finn heaved a sigh of relief as Principal Hux walked away.  He looked over at Poe worriedly, “Is it just me or was Principal Hux trying to be… _nice_?” 

It wasn’t the first time Poe had heard it happening.  Ever since the school dance something had changed.  It wasn’t as if Principal Sour-Puss’s personality had done a one-eighty, but something was different.  From time to time he would quietly comment on students making good progress before shuffling off awkwardly.  It wasn’t as if he was all smiles and happiness, he was still a hard-ass, he still enforced the rules with the enthusiasm of a drill sergeant in a Stanley Kubrick movie, but every so often he would say something that wasn’t criticism or chastising. 

Poe wanted to say the Principal finally got laid and that was what caused the sudden, if slight, shift in mannerisms.  But if that had been the case this would have only been temporary.  Principal Hux was consistently making attempts at being nice.  It wasn’t as if he seemed confident or cheerful about it either.  It was more like a little kid being told they had to say ten nice things if they wanted to leave time-out.  Especially with the way he tended to mumble and move away as fast as he could. 

“The world is a strange and mysterious place, Gummybear,” said Poe, “Maybe he got abducted by aliens and they surgically removed the stick from up his butt.  Though, speaking of butts, if we’re not doing the horse thing, do you have a backup idea?” 

Finn smiled sheepishly, “You like Star Wars, right?” 

“Who doesn’t like Star Wars!?” exclaimed Poe, “So who do you want to be?” 

“Han Solo’s pretty cool.  We can’t bring toy guns, but I have most of the clothes I would need to throw a costume together.  I think I could at least make it recognizable,” said Finn. 

“Well, if you’re Han, then I’m gonna be Leia,” said Poe excitedly. 

“I was going to ask Rey to be…” began Finn. 

“No way.  We’re the couple, so we’re gonna be Han and Leia.  Rey’d make a way better Luke than I would anyways,” explained Poe, barely containing his glee, “Oh…this is almost better than getting to be the butt!” 

“I’m not even going to ask why you’re so obsessed with that…” muttered Finn. 

“Because not only would I be an ass…” said Poe slyly, “I’d be _your_ ass.” 

“You’re such a dork,” said Finn, grinning and shaking his head slightly. 

“But I’m you’re dork, right?” asked Poe. 

“Yeah, you’re my dork.” 

   ***  

It would have been easy enough to ask someone else to put the fliers on all the bulletin boards in the school, but Hux felt like taking a walk.  He simultaneously had more energy than ever and was constantly exhausted.  Kylo Ren, the art TA and, thanks to a run in with some imaginary Mongolian Deathworms, his boyfriend had been over at his house nearly every night.  They didn’t even do much.  Usually they just watched one of Kylo’s bizarre cult classic films.  Hux would pay them as much mind as was necessary to follow the plot as he filed through some paperwork while Kylo curled up next to him and recited trivia about the actors, directors and filming process.  Hux supposed it wasn’t really that tiring, and yet it had become that way. 

Really it was his own fault.  He felt compelled to play host every single time, meaning the house needed to be thoroughly cleaned, meals needed to be planned, and schedules needed to be reworked to accommodate the sudden change in his social life.  It had been a few weeks since they started dating, as much as sitting on a couch together watching films could be called dating, and they hadn’t had sex since their first time.  Hux supposed that was also his fault.  He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, and Kylo seemed to be waiting for his lead.  It just…never occurred to him to talk about it.  It was like that one errand that always got overlooked until it was remembered far too late to do anything about it.  He would spend time with Kylo, have a lovely evening, and right after saying goodnight it would dawn on Hux that they hadn’t negotiated the physical terms of their relationship. 

Kylo was coming over again tonight, so Hux made up his mind to bring it up.  He even considered penciling it into his journal.  He would have done it if he was certain that nobody was going to see it by accident. 

He wandered the halls at a brisk pace, stapling fliers to boards as he went, thankful that there were few disturbances today.  He supposed all those were out of the way when several students were sent home after failing their drug tests.  Thanisson, the math teacher, had detention duty, and he did fairly well at handling students by himself. 

Hux began stapling one of the notices to the art board when he heard a deep voice awkwardly ask, “Hey, uh, could we…could we talk?” 

He turned and saw Kylo, hand poised as if he was ready to tap him on the shoulder.  Hux looked about for possible eavesdroppers and sighed, “If it’s not to do with school we can’t talk about it here.  We discussed this.” 

“It’s sort of important.  The art room is empty.  I’m just cleaning some stuff so we can talk there,” suggested Kylo. 

Hux looked about, “I have a few minutes before I need to get back.  I have a meeting with a mother who can’t believe her precious angel would pull the fire alarm for the fun of it.” 

Kylo grimaced slightly as he headed back to the art room, “And…thanks for taking the brunt of that after, you know, the whole dance thing…” 

“It’s nothing,” Hux shrugged, trying to act as if it were nothing, though it wasn’t.  He’d had to deal with scores of concerned parents who heard about some assistant teacher going insane and attacking a speaker.  It had been hell, but it started to ease up after Super Intendant Snoke got involved. 

He stepped into the art room and was instantly greeted with the smell of paint thinner.  It seemed Kylo was working on cleaning brushes, plastic tubs and palettes.  He sat back down by his bucket of paint thinner and started scrubbing at the brushes, “So…it’s been a few weeks and uh…I really, really don’t want to pressure you or anything.” 

“It kept slipping my mind,” groaned Hux, “We can go over it tonight.  Be sure to remind me.” 

“Oh,” said Kylo, starting slightly and splashing himself a little with the paint thinner, “Well…um, okay.” 

“What was that for?” asked Hux, crossing his arms. 

“It’s just…I kind of expected you to be less gung-ho,” said Kylo. 

“I know it’s something you need, and if I’m going to be completely honest, I liked it once we got started,” explained Hux, “It’s just not something that occurs to me since I don’t have much of a drive, or attractions to spark it.” 

“So you don’t mind sex?” asked Kylo quietly. 

“Not as much as I thought I would,” said Hux, “People like me can be sex-positive you know.” 

“I know I just…didn’t really peg you that way.  Not that I’m complaining!” said Kylo, “I mean, it kind of makes it a bit easier for both of us.  So we’ll talk more tonight?” 

“We’ll talk more tonight,” promised Hux.  He turned to leave before pausing, “By the way, I talked to most of the members of the soccer team about their game last Wednesday.  I made sure to say something pleasant and encouraging.” 

“Then I owe you a foot massage,” said Kylo with a grin, “And I did all of my written work for my new anger management course so…” 

Hux sighed, “We can start marathoning Star Trek…” 

“Don’t be like that, you’ll love it!” Kylo called after him. 


	2. Aces and Plants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading super quick from a café. Sorry if there's any mistakes!

The tech hall smelled awful.  Poe was no longer surprised when the smells of sawdust and petrol wafted from the classrooms, but he was far from being accustomed to it.  Even though he took a few shop classes, he could never get used to the smell of it.  Most didn’t.  When checking locker assignments most students eagerly checked to make sure they were as far from that particular hallway as possible, with the exception of a few druggies who thought the smell might cover up the smell of what they stashed in their lockers. 

Rey’s locker was in the tech hall.  The story was that she had swapped to get one there.  At first most assumed it was because the new girl was hiding a stash.  After the police had come with their dogs for a surprise inspection, courtesy of Principal Narc, and Rey’s locker went un-raided, it was clear that she didn’t want the locker to hide drugs.  When her reputation for being nice and a practical wizard in the garage spread, the rumour changed.  The top two theories were that she just wanted a locker that was close to her favorite classes, or that she noticed someone didn’t want their locker and volunteered to swap with them. 

Poe brushed by a grungy looking goth girl.  She was twice as big as he was and discreetly slipping a pack of cigarettes into her bag as she headed towards the smoking area outside.  Finn seemed fine.  It was strange how none of the tech hall weirdoes could phase him, but Coach Phasma and Principal Hux could reduce him to a quivering mess with just a glare.  Either way, both of them tried not to stare.  The first rule of surviving the tech hall was not to give anyone a look that might have been mistaken for a leer. 

They found Rey standing in front of an open locker, trying to cram a stack of Styrofoam boxes into her bag. 

“Hey, Rey,” said Finn, raising his hand to get her attention. 

“Oh, hi,” she stammered, somewhat surprised as she tried to pack the boxes in faster.  Seeing them approach she quickly put the back into her locker and closed it.  She glanced up at Poe, “I think I remember you from the dance.” 

“Ah, so you liked my Braveheart speech?” said Poe. 

“I didn’t know it was a reference, I just thought it was funny.  I’ve never seen Principal Hux so flustered,” said Rey with a slight laugh.  She looked over at Finn apologetically, “I’m not sure we’ve met…but you’re in my English class, aren’t you?” 

“Yeah, second from the back by the window,” said Finn. 

“Oh, did you need my notes?” asked Rey. 

“No, I was just wondering if you had plans this Halloween,” said Finn, “Every year a bunch of us come to school in costume.  Sometimes teams or clubs try to coordinate, but most people use it as an excuse to dress up.” 

“Well…no.  I thought I’d work on some extra credit projects,” explained Rey. 

“Oh, uh, if you’re busy you don’t have to, but we were wondering if you wanted to join our group,” said Finn, “You don’t have to, but if you want, the offer’s on the table.” 

“We’re gonna be Han and Leia from Star Wars, and we need to find a Luke,” explained Poe. 

Rey furrowed her brow, “Then wouldn’t you want another boy?” 

“Nah, we think you’d make a great Luke.  Besides, you work for a guy named Han Solo!  How perfect is that!?” exclaimed Poe. 

“Okay, well, I think I can manage that,” said Rey, who returned to trying to cram the boxes into her bag, “I hate to run off like this but if I don’t hurry I’ll miss the bus.” 

“No problem.  Do you need a hand?  An extra bag, maybe?” asked Finn. 

“If it wasn’t Friday I could leave some here…” Rey muttered to herself.  She looked up at Finn, “Do you have an extra bag?” 

“Yeah,” said Finn, setting down his duffel bag.  He riffled through his soccer gear and began pulling some pads out of a plastic bag.  Poe never saw the purpose of separating all the equipment and keeping everything in their own grocery bags, but Finn swore that it kept things cleaner and better organized.  He handed the bag to Rey who began stuffing her Styrofoam boxes inside. 

“Thanks,” she said with a grateful sigh, “You’re a life saver…” 

“What’s in there?” asked Poe, “Science project?” 

“No, just some stuff,” said Rey hurriedly, “Sorry, I’ve really got to go.” 

“Yeah, no problem, see you Monday,” said Poe. 

“See you!” called Rey as she ran off. 

Poe watched her run.  She was quick, really quick.  If there had been a girl’s football team she probably could have given him a run for his money, especially if her throwing arm was as good as her speed and agility.  Supposedly she was good at everything.  Best in shop, in advanced academic courses with Finn, heading up the school Lacrosse team, and she was so good at Art that she made the Art TA furious.  He envied her a little bit.  Poe was good at sports, and at hands on stuff, but as soon as he opened a book to study his brain shut off and his mind wandered. 

“What do you suppose she had in there?” Poe wondered out loud. 

“I don’t know, but I think they use those boxes in Home Ec,” noted Finn, “Maybe she baked a bunch of stuff and wanted to take it home.” 

“Weird that they didn’t give her a bag,” said Poe with a shrug, “Are you in a rush to get home?” 

“Not really,” said Finn.  A slightly worried look crossed his face, “Why?” 

“Because I’m going to confront my nemesis,” said Poe.  Fin groaned, causing the other boy to quickly add, “Now’s the best time!  If I mess up, he has the whole weekend to cool off.” 

Probably cuddle his cat or hang out with Kylo.  Even though nothing had happened between them at the motel, Poe had a sneaking suspicion that something had changed between the two of them.  Principal Hux was trying to be nice and Kylo was slightly less hair-triggered.  It was a little too much for pure coincidence that the two men had decided to try to change just a few weeks after Kylo had chased after the Principal in a taxi cab.  Obviously they were seeing each other.  Either as friends or something else. 

Part of Poe wanted to think that it had to be friends.  Principal Hux wasn’t attracted to anyone, so he probably didn’t have sex.  Poe couldn’t imagine how someone could possibly do it with anyone who they weren’t attracted to.  It just sounded…bad.  Did asexual people just lie back and think of something else while their partner did whatever they wanted?  That didn’t sound good at all.  He would have to look on the forum later.  The whole thing just left him incredibly confused.  Why on earth hadn’t he heard of this before?  There were so many people online, Principal Hux probably wasn’t the only asexual at the school.  There had to be more. 

“Just don’t _try_ to make him mad,” said Finn pleadingly, “You’re safe because Phasma needs you on the team with a clean record, but if you keep crossing Principal Hux he’s not going to take it lying down.  I want to keep going to dances with you, different events, maybe prom, and I definitely want to graduate with you.  If you keep this up though…” 

Poe sighed.  Finn was good at seeing the big picture.  He could see how all the little things interconnected and affecting the big things weeks, months and years down the line.  Poe tended to take things as they came and dealt with the consequences later.  Poe saw an opportunity to cause mischief and took it as a little bit of fun to be had here and now, while Finn saw something that could impede something they might really want to do later. 

“I promise, I won’t try to make him mad,” relented Poe, patting Finn on the back, “I’ll make it quick so I can get you home too.” 

“Did you want to hang out this weekend?” asked Finn. 

“We’ll see.  It’ll depend on whether dad needs the extra help or not,” said Poe with a shrug.  He flashed a grin, “But probably I’ll see what I can do.” 

   ***  

Poe walked into Principal Hux’s office and saw him placing a fly into the mouth of a Venus flytrap. 

The student’s eyes widened as he watched his principal, standing on the tips of his toes as he fed the carnivorous plant.  It would be so easy.  The joke was practically writing itself.  But it was a bad joke.  It was an offensive joke.  He promised his Gummybear but it would be so easy… 

Principal Hux turned slightly.  He sighed and placed his tweezers back into a container of dead flies.  He put them on his desk and sat down, leaning over to dig out a binder, “Who sent you here this time…” 

“Uh, well, nobody,” admitted Poe, “I just…wanted to talk.” 

“Nobody?” asked Principal Hux, his binder and a black felt-tip pen ready in his hands. 

“Yeah, I just want to talk,” said Poe.  Before he could stop himself he added, “They do talk on your home planet, don’t they?” 

Principal Hux scowled and Poe mentally kicked himself.  Stupid.  He wasn’t supposed to be doing that.  He was supposed to be…well, maybe not nice, but not provocative either!  He looked around for something to cover up his quip.  He spotted a large ornate plaque behind the desk.  That hadn’t been there last time, “Uh, so, what’s that thing behind you say?” 

“ _Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate_ ” said Hux in some weird language.  It was a bit like Spanish, but not quite.  Italian maybe?  Seeing his confusion, the principal translated, “It says, ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.’  It’s from Dante’s Inferno.” 

“Oh, I loved that game!” exclaimed Poe, “I didn’t know you were a Gamer!” 

“No…it’s an Italian epic poem from the fourteenth century,” said Principal Hux slowly, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh…” said Poe, slightly disappointed. 

“Dameron, is there something you needed to talk about?” asked the principal quizzically, “You’re not in trouble, are you?” 

“I think you’d know if I was in trouble,” said Poe with a wink, finding it best to play it cool.  He had to do this.  He had messed up and now he had to make it right again.  Making up for calling Principal Hux something that upset him so much was the right thing to do.  He just needed to play it cool, “It’s actually about a few weeks ago.” 

The principal’s eyes narrowed, “What about it…?” 

“You know, the card,” said Poe, “I just thought maybe there was something in it you might not have liked and…” 

“No, I like cats,” admitted Principal Hux. 

Poe could have palmed his forehead.  That was supposed to have been his cue to figure out that Poe was apologizing and graciously accept the gesture.  He shook his head, tossing his black curls wildly as he did, “No, no I mean…I wrote something…” 

Principal Hux seemed confused.  He leaned over to one of his drawers and pulled out the little green envelope.  Poe was surprised he kept the card, but then, Principal Hux probably didn’t get much fanmail from students.  He opened the card and looked it over, “Are you referring to the part where you referred to me as, and I quote, ‘butt-hurt’?”

Poe grimaced.  In retrospect Principal Hux had every right to be offended by what he said.  It wasn’t a case of someone not being able to take a joke.  In this case Poe had called his principal something most Ace people hated to be called, and then sent him a letter calling him it a second time.  It was perfectly reasonable and understandable that he’d been offended.  Hux continued to read, “Ah, you must mean the part where I’m not from planet Earth.  You seem fond of that one.” 

Poe shrank back a little more and shook his head.  He wasn’t scared.  Very few things actually scared him this was…shame.  He was really ashamed of what had happened and just couldn’t find the words to say it.  Principal Hux looked down at the letter and scowled.  He put it back into the envelope and tossed it into the drawer, disdainfully muttering, “Plant-person?” 

“Look I…I didn’t _know_ ,” said Poe.  He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, “If I’d known I wouldn’t have said that…or repeated it.  I only found out later and…I know I break a lot of rules, but I try not to hurt anybody when I make jokes and…”  Poe stopped.  This was going to sting.  It was going to sting a lot, but he had made this mistake and this was what he had to do to make up for it.  It was the right thing to do, and Finn would appreciate him not antagonizing their principal.  He sighed and muttered quickly, “…SorryIcalledyouaplantperson…”

Principal Hux cocked his brow, “I beg your pardon?” 

Either the guy hadn’t heard or he loved to watch his students squirm.  Poe would have believed either answer with the way the school ran under Hux’s iron fist.  He sighed and said a little more loudly and clearly, “I’m sorry I called you a plant-person.  I didn’t know Ace people hate that.” 

Hux sat at his desk, seeming slightly stunned.  He opened his mouth once or twice like he wanted to talk, but no sound came out.  Finally he managed to say, “Well…I hope you won’t do it again…” 

“No way.  I try not to cross lines like that,” said Poe, shaking his head again.  He looked up at the Venus flytrap, “So…you have a plant?  Can I talk to you about your plants?” 

Principal Hux let out a huff through his nose.  It was the closest to laughing Poe had ever heard him come.  He looked up at the plant on his filing cabinet, “We can talk about plants, just don’t call _me_ a plant.”  Principal Hux jerked his thumb at the flytrap, “That’s Sir Walsingham.  He’s a Venus flytrap.  I need to make sure he’s fed before the weekend.” 

“Kind of a…big name for a plant,” said Poe. 

“I thought it fitting, seeing as he’s so close to the security camera,” said Hux with a shrug, “Now, do you need something?  I have to get ready for a very important meeting.” 

“Parents?” asked Poe. 

“No, something else,” replied the principal, “And I have a lot of work to do beforehand.”

“Well, that was it so…are we cool?” asked Poe. 

“We are…though we would be ‘cooler’ if you would stop drawing caricatures of Mister Thanisson during his math lessons,” said Hux, giving Poe a slightly irate look. 

The man just couldn’t accept an apology graciously.  Poe rolled his eyes and muttered, “Not my fault quadratics are useless…” 

Principal Hux reached into his desk and pulled out a drawing of the Math Teacher.  He had demon horns and was cracking a whip over a line of stick-figure students, shouting, ‘Work!  Work!  Work!’  The principal glanced at it then back to Poe, “Is this really necessary?” 

Poe snorted at the drawing before grinning, “Come on, it’s just a joke.  Nobody’s getting hurt.  Other guys around here do a lot worse.  I heard you sent a bunch of people home this morning.  Why not let something like a dumb picture slide?” 

Principal Hux slipped the paper back into his desk, “It’s disruptive, and Mister Thanisson dislikes being compared to Satan.” 

“I dunno Principal Hux.  Taking one number, performing a ritual to mystically divide it in half?  Sounds like some serious Hocus-Pocus to me,” said Poe, “I’m pretty sure it’s against my religion.  Oh!  If math is against my religion can I be given a pass?” 

“Math is not against your religion!” snapped Principal Hux, “That’s the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard!” 

“And by ridiculous you mean ‘best’ right?” asked Poe. 

“Dameron…” Hux growled warningly. 

“Oh, one more thing, about the Halloween costumes, bikinis are off limits, right?  But what if I wore one overtop of something else?” asked Poe. 

Principal Hux arched his brow, “What?” 

“I wanna dress as a character who has this really iconic costume, but it’s real skimpy.  If I wore something underneath it, like a bodysuit, would that be okay?” asked Poe. 

Principal Hux furrowed his brow.  He seemed to be shocked and apprehensive about the fact that Poe Dameron was trying to be considerate of the rules.  Poe continued, “I’m dressing up with some friends and I really don’t want to get them in trouble.” 

“That’s…surprisingly considerate of you,” said Principal Hux, “So long as we’re able to tell that you’re wearing something underneath it shouldn’t be a problem.  Whatever you’re wearing under your costume should be clearly visible from across a classroom or down a hallway.” 

“Okay, that works, later Huxy,” said Poe, turning on his heel. 

“It’s Hux!” barked the Principal.

Poe stepped out of the office with a grin on his face.  His conscience had been cleared.  Principal Hux was still as uptight as ever, but it seemed like there were no hard feelings between them, and that was what Poe had been aiming for.  He smiled to himself and spotted Finn, who stood with his duffle bag on the floor and his arms crossed. 

His boyfriend looked at him irately, “That was apologizing?  I could hear him shouting from out here.” 

“It’s just a game.  We’re cool,” said Poe. 

Finn sighed, “I mean, if I did to Phasma what you do to Principal-”

“It’s ‘Coach Phasma’ or ‘Ms. Phasma’ Vanen.  That’s twice now.” 

Finn jumped, and Poe couldn’t help being startled as well.  They slowly turned and saw Coach Phasma passing behind them, a bundle of field hockey sticks held over her massive shoulder.  She turned and gave Finn a warning look, “Don’t let there be a third time.  Are we understood?” 

“Yes ma’am…” said Finn, blanching slightly. 

“Aw, come on Coach Phasma, lighten up a little.  Being so uptight can’t be good for you,” chided Poe, having heard what a health and fitness nut the coach was. 

“Perhaps. And perhaps twenty extra push-ups will be good for you during your next practice, Dameron,” said Phasma with a sly grin, “And an extra lap around the track.  See you next practice.” 

Poe’s jaw dropped.  He was used to Principal Hux just blowing up when he back-sassed him.  Coach Phasma was a whole other ballgame.  He usually stayed serious around her.  He liked football so he tried to stick to following directions and never really made his coach the target of any pranks or jokes.  Sometimes she assigned him extra exercise if he did something particularly disruptive at school, like his little speech at the dance, but for the most part they didn’t mind each other. 

He patted Finn on the shoulder, “Wow, you sure know how to pick your nemesis.  You’ve got your work cut out for you.” 

Finn grimaced, “Looks that way…” 


	3. To Boldly Clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hux's attitude towards people coming over is kind of a hyperbole of mine. Poor guy just wants things to be perfect.

Hux scrambled to clean his house with all the determination of an army of ants at a picnic.  He had been forced to stay late to write up a few more reports on the students who had failed their drug tests and now his whole schedule was off.  He needed the house to be cleaned before company came over.  His parents had mercilessly drilled that into his head as a boy.  The house needed to be spotless for company, and he had to have dinner prepared for when they arrived along with drinks and entertainment.  Nothing less than perfection ever sufficed. 

He had already vacuumed all the cat hair he could find after he had made sure Millicent was neatly groomed, fur sleek and shining with her claws evenly clipped.  The kitchen was a disaster.  He had left a mug, plate and fork in the sink that morning and several dishes on the drying rack.  It was an absolute disgrace.  The front entrance had required sweeping, and of course he would need the good tea set for when company was over.  Nothing could unfortunately salvage the fact that he’d needed to call for dinner to be delivered.  He had gotten home so late he didn’t have time to stop at the grocery store and prepare something special like he usually did.  It was heinous, completely beyond the pale.  The muffins he had baked earlier that week couldn’t salvage this situation.  Kylo was going to be so horribly disappointed with him… 

There was a knock at the front door and Hux’s heart neatly leapt out of his throat.  He hoped it wasn’t Kylo.  Dinner needed to be ready to serve before guests arrived.  What was he supposed to do if Kylo got to his door first?  How was he supposed to apologize in the face of such a colossal failure!? 

Thankfully it was the delivery boy, someone Hux didn’t recognize.  He wasn’t sure what he would have done if it had been one of his students working a part time job.  He dug his wallet out of his back pocket as the boy, who seemed to the age of a college student, read the receipt, “Loo-a-lin Hux?” 

“ _Lewellyn_ ,” corrected Hux, glimpsing the total and trying to find the right bills and change, along with working out what a decent tip would be. 

“Oh…” said the delivery boy, handing Hux a plastic bag, “It’s hot, so be careful when you take it out.” 

“Yes, thank you,” said Hux hurriedly, handing him a fistful of bills and coins.  He detected the very soft sound of cat paws bounding towards the door and blocked Millicent with his foot, “No, Millie!  Go back inside!” 

“Indoor cat, huh?” said the delivery boy, “I’ll just shut the door for you.  Have a good night.” 

“Thank you again,” said Hux, crouching down to get the cat out of the way while the screen door was closed.  He scowled slightly as the delivery boy walked away.  Standing up so he could close the thick, wooden door Hux scolded the cat, “You’re a housecat, Millie.  I can’t have you getting fleas or running away now.  For goodness sake this is my first serious relationship in five years and I just want it to go right!” 

Millicent meowed up at him and angled herself to receive a scratch on the back.  Hux put the food on the kitchen counter, hoping he might at least be able to make it look presentable on a plate and gave in, leaning down to pet the cat.  He knew that this whole setup was unrealistic and Kylo would hardly care if he needed to order take-out occasionally because of time or stress, but his brain was hard-wired to go through with this process.  The cat purred, oblivious to all of this and rubbed herself against her owner’s legs.  She was always happy when Kylo was coming because it mean new smells from the outside, another human to worship her, and her owner giving her an extra brushing beforehand. 

As for Kylo, he pulled in as soon as the delivery driver had left the driveway clear.  Unaware of the inner turmoil Hux had been going through, he had the first season of the Original Series under his arm and was excited to introduce his bizarrely sheltered boyfriend to the world of Star Trek.  He knocked on the door and was greeting by Hux, who seemed slightly out of breath as he held up his hands in surrender, “I am so, so sorry.” 

“For what?” asked Kylo, cocking his brow. 

“For everything.  My house is a disaster,” said Hux, opening the door sheepishly, “You’re welcome to come in, please ignore the mess in the kitchen.” 

Kylo kicked his shoes onto the rubber mat by the door and looked around.  The only things that might be somewhat out of place were a plate and mug in the dish rack that seemed to be drying.  Hux continued to flit about, babbling and putting together plates and trays and silverware, “I’m sorry, I got home late and didn’t have time to cook.  I didn’t know what you liked and I didn’t know what there was so I just looked this place up online.  I don’t even know if it’s any good.  Please, go make yourself comfortable.” 

“You know I can help, right?” asked Kylo, “I’ve got two hands.  Maybe I could do something while you-”

“No, no, it’s under control…” said Hux, pulling a Styrofoam box out of the bag and hissing slightly before dropping it on the counter, “Please go sit.” 

Kylo furrowed his brow, “Hux if you need a hand…” 

“No, it’s out of the question.  I’ll be along in less than five minutes,” said Hux, practically pleading. 

Of all of Hux’s habits, this one was the worst.  He had this weird fixation on rolling out the red carpet every time he visited and it made Kylo feel awful when he thought about just how much work every visit was creating.  As if Hux’s job didn’t provide him with enough work, the man cooked and cleaned like a maniac and refused to even let Kylo help with the dishes after.  At first it had been kind of sweet and flattering, now it was just…weird. 

He relented and went to the living room anyways, trying not to trip over Millicent.  She probably smelled all of the materials he worked with in the art room and seemed to love his scent.  He sat on the couch and cuddled her in lieu of his boyfriend, waiting for Hux to stop being neurotic and come snuggle. 

Hux entered a few moments later with a dinner tray that looked far too heavy for him to be carrying, “I know I usually cook and I hate to disappoint-”

“You’re not disappointing me,” said Kylo, “How much was the bill?  I could-”

“Out of the question,” said Hux, sitting down after he had placed the tray on the table.  Hux had ordered something from a chain of roast chicken restaurants, one that Kylo thought was pretty good, and was hardly disappointed by the change in pace.  Hux panted slightly before catching his breath, “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah,” said Kylo, though it would have been better if he felt a little less guilty, “So, talk first or Trek first?” 

“Talk.  I don’t want to forget and I’ve been making you wait for a long time,” said Hux, pouring out some tea.  Kylo always found cola of some sort went better with this kind of meal, but he wasn’t going to say that and give his poor overworked boyfriend an aneurism. 

“Okay,” said Kylo, picking up the gravy and slathering his chicken and mashed potatoes with it, “So…I guess we should start with how often you’d be comfortable.” 

“Well, I only get…urges, once or twice a month, if that,” said Hux. 

Kylo nearly dropped the gravy boat, “Once or twice…a _month_?” 

“I told you I have a low drive.  What about yourself?  Nine or ten times?” asked Hux. 

Kylo made sure Hux wasn’t holding anything breakable as he said, “I was thinking three or four times a week…” 

Hux paused and reciprocated the look of shock Kylo had given him earlier, “A _week_?” 

“Well, yeah,” said Kylo. 

Hux furrowed his brow and seemed to be thinking of how much work three to four visits would create for him.  He shook his head, “How on earth would we make time for that?  That would mean some times will have to be on work nights…” 

“It doesn’t have to be full on sex,” said Kylo, “There are ways that, if you weren’t into it but I was we could work something out, and I don’t have to stay overnight every time.  You could come to my place from time to time.” 

Hux seemed to be going through some sort of an epiphany, as if he’d had no idea that visiting Kylo was an option that had been available the whole time.  Kylo continued, “Or if you prefer to have us hang out here every time, you could let me do the dishes?”  

“You can’t work, you’re visiting my house,” exclaimed Hux, as if Kylo had suggesting going to the nearest zoo and giving the penguins flying lessons. 

“Well, if I’m here three or four nights a week, you’re going to burn out, so we should have some sort of compromise,” reasoned Kylo.  He paused for a moment and added, “Unless three or four times a week is too much.” 

“It seems a little much,” muttered Hux, “Not that I’m not flattered or I don’t appreciate it, but I just have no idea how I’m supposed to make time.  You’ve had years to work this out but this is my first and I really wish this whole relationship business came with some sort of handbook…” 

“I don’t have a book, but I know if you’re not comfortable with something you have to tell me,” said Kylo. 

“I’m going to figure out my schedule first.  Fridays work because neither or us have to work in the morning, same with Saturdays, then I suppose we just have to visit on other week nights…how are Tuesday and Thursday for you?” asked Hux. 

“Fine…but you are dodging the question,” said Kylo before repeating, “Is there something you’re uncomfortable with?” 

“I just…don’t know,” said Hux, “This is all new so…” 

“Just go with your gut.  If I say something and it puts you off, we won’t do it,” said Kylo.  He took a second to gather himself.  He was more open about his wants then Hux, but he was used to having partners who communicated more physically.  They talked a bit beforehand, but they mostly just went with the flow of things and acted on wherever that took them, much like his first time with Hux had went.  The other man just let Kylo guide him through the whole thing, but that seemed to have been the exception as opposed to the rule.  Kylo took a sip of tea before muttering, “Masturbation?” 

“Well I can do that by myself, I don’t see why I’d need you in the room with me,” protested Hux, “Seems like a bit of a waste.” 

“We could do it for each other, or if it was a night you just weren’t interested then…would it be okay if I did it alone with you in the room?” asked Kylo. 

Hux flushed slightly, “I hope you’d warn me before you started…” 

“Of course!” exclaimed Kylo, “Did…did you seriously think I’d just whip it out without saying something?” 

“I don’t know!” retorted Hux, “How many times can I say I don’t know how this works?” 

“Okay, okay, so…would you be alright with oral?” asked Kylo. 

“I’ve…never done that before…” said Hux quietly. 

Even without saying ‘no’ Kylo could realize Hux didn’t seem alright with it.  He shrank back slightly and pressed his fingers into his palms.  His whole posture screamed discomfort and awkwardness.  He shrugged, trying to show as much as he could that Hux’s refusal wasn’t a big deal, “How do you feel about me doing it to you?” 

“I’m not sure about that either,” replied Hux, though he sounded a bit more certain. 

“Would you like me to try it?” asked Kylo, “Not trying to pressure you, but if you wanted, I actually kind of like doing it.” 

“You do!?” asked Hux, slightly alarmed. 

“Yeah, when my partner’s into it it’s a lot of fun,” replied Kylo. 

“I just assumed nobody liked doing that,” mumbled Hux, shooing Millicent away from his chicken. 

“It’s sort of a mind over matter thing at first, but once you’re started and once your partner gets into it, then, yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” said Kylo, “If you want we can try it once and if you hate it or it’s just too weird for you we don’t have to do it again…if you don’t mind me asking, why did you think everyone hated doing it?” 

“Language mostly.  I have never heard anyone phrase that act in a way that wasn’t meant to degrade or humiliate someone,” said Hux.  He gave a light shrug, “Film and television don’t seem to do it much credit either.” 

Kylo gave a slight nod, “I guess I can see that.  And you’re okay with three or four nights a week?” 

“I was wondering…we’ve been meeting weekly for a while now.  Could we try pushing it up to two and going from there?” asked Hux, “It’s not you, I just think I can learn to balance this better if we keep things at a slow pace.  I hope that’s not too disappointing.” 

“It’s not,” lied Kylo.  It was disappointing in that it wasn’t the answer he had been hoping for, but it wasn’t a flat out rejection and Hux was obviously trying to be as open as he could.  Kylo dipped a fry in gravy and gave Hux a slightly warning look, “But this has to stop.” 

“I am very, very sorry about the take-away,” said Hux glumly. 

“Not that, this whole red-carpet-guest thing.  If I’m going to be at your house two nights a week, you are going to let me do something around here,” warned Kylo, “If not, I am tying you up and throwing you in a closet while I…I dunno scrub your bathroom or something.” 

“Bathroom!” exclaimed Hux, going while as a sheet.  He looked at Kylo with a look of unbridled terror as he quietly requested, “Would you excuse me for just a moment…” 

“Hux, I have spent months backpacking across Asia.  I have and used some of the strangest, most uncomfortable toilets ever devised by mankind.  Unless your bathroom has an inter-dimensional portal to a galaxy filled with man-eating sunflowers, there is absolutely nothing in there that can shock me.  So sit down, relax, and eat your chicken before Millicent does,” said Kylo. 

Hux regarded him suspiciously for a moment and seemed like he might make a mad dash for the bathroom, but instead he sighed, picked up his plate and began picking at the meat dejectedly.  Kylo could see he was clearly putting his all into this relationship, Hux did nothing by halves it seemed, but if he kept up the pace he had set for himself the man was going to burn out. 

Kylo finished quicker.  He tended to ‘inhale’ his meals, as his mother once put it.  He set the plate aside and beckoned Millicent over.  Trying to think of something to cheer Hux up, he picked up the cat under her arms and turned her to face Hux, moving her arms to gesture as he spoke in a cartoonish voice, “It’s not like you’re making him use my litter-box.” 

“Millicent is not a puppet,” warned Hux. 

“Alright,” relented Kylo, putting the cat down so he could pick up the DVD box.  He opened it carefully and took out the first disc, “And I really think you’re going to like this show.” 

“As long as we never watch that ‘Birdemic’ trash again…” muttered Hux. 

“Speaking of horror, are you doing anything for Halloween?” asked Kylo. 

“No, I don’t think so,” replied Hux. 

“I heard from Phasma that some of the staff dress up, or at least wear orange and black,” said Kylo.  He looked Hux over and hoped his proposal wouldn’t be met with a laugh, “We could dress up, then spend the night together.” 

“I really don’t want to do that at work, but after…I’m not really interested in going to a club or parties or anything like that,” said Hux, “That’s what people do in America, yes?” 

“It’s not like that in England or Wales?” asked Kylo. 

“We do.  We have fancy dress and parties, but nowhere near as many or as extravagant as things seem to be here,” the redhead explained, “I can’t go to a single shop in this country without having my senses bombarded obnoxious Halloween ornaments.” 

Kylo didn’t think America could be the less extravagant of the two if people in England were wearing something fancy to their parties.  He gave a shrug, “I think it’d be fun.  You’d scare the pants off the kids if you actually participated in one of the school events.  If you don’t have anything I’m sure I’ve got something you can borrow.  You can come over in the morning before work and pick something out.” 

“Kylo, not to rain on your parade, but if I go to school wearing your clothes I might as well be broadcasting our relationship to the entire school…” said Hux cautiously. 

Kylo shrugged, “They don’t have to know it’s mine.  I was mostly thinking of stuff that I had left-over from my goth phase.” 

“Oh goody…” said Hux, taking the empty plates, “Be right back, just putting these in the sink.” 

“Don’t wash them, I’ll do it for you later,” said Kylo, trying to ignore the fact that the suggestion left Hux looking completely aghast, “I come to your house all the time and I haven’t gotten to return the favor.  Just let me do your dishes for you.” 

“It defies all logic…” muttered Hux. 

“Hurry up and come back so I can show you a character I think you’re really going to identify with,” said Kylo, pointing at the picture of Mr. Spock on the DVD box.  Though on second thought Hux might think he had a thing or two in common with Dr. McCoy, “And I owe you a foot massage.” 

Hux gave Kylo a worried look before suggesting, “You wash, I dry?” 

Kylo grinned and shrugged.  He supposed it was the best answer he was going to get, and he liked it a lot better than Hux doing all of the chores all the time. 


	4. Food Glorious Food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly couldn't find a way to put Rey's past in a high school setting without the poor girl being dealt a shitty hand in life. So trigger warning for abusive-guardian-Unkar-Plutt. 
> 
> I also wanna get to the Halloweeny part of this story before the 31st. Hopefully I will, but I do have 3 other ongoing series and a bunch of WIPs. But I'll do my best!

Lots of people got called to the Principal’s office, Rey wasn’t one of them. 

And yet, in the break between classes, Poe heard the secretary’s voice come droning over the announcements, calling for Rey to come to the office.  There had to be a reason for it.  Maybe her parents had dropped off her lunch, or she had won some award or something.  As far as Poe knew, Rey was an awesome person who did awesome things and never, ever got in trouble.  He recalled her project from the Friday before.  Maybe it was for a contest or something.  Either way, Poe’s concerns were quickly quelled by all the common-sense reasons that Rey might be called to the Principal’s office. 

“You hear that?” asked Finn, “It’s weird.” 

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” said Poe with a shrug, “Anyways, I’ve got something to show you.” 

“Make it quick, we only have a few minutes before second period,” said Finn as Poe flipped through one of his notebooks. 

“Okay, so on Sunday after I was done with work I started planning out my costume.  Being the butt would have been easier, but I think this is gonna be a lot of fun,” said Poe with a big grin.  He pointed to the drawings and plans he had made, “So there’s tons of directions online for how to make armour out of foam, and it’s such a popular costume that there are tons of tutorials on how to make it.  I wrote down the ones I think I can pull off.  But you know, since I’m a guy and it turns out looking weird I can always say it’s part of the joke.” 

Finn looked at the notebook, impressed, but he quickly became concerned, “Poe…how much time did you spend working on this?” 

“I dunno, a few hours?” said Poe. 

Finn flipped through the notebook, “Poe…at the risk of sounding like a buzz-kill, how much time did you spend on your chapter review and summary for English class?” 

“Shit!  I knew I forgot something!” exclaimed Poe.  He sighed, “Oh well, it’s not worth that much of my mark.” 

“Dude, you can’t keep forgetting those, they add up,” said Finn.  He flipped through the notebook, looking over all of Poe’s disorganized notes, the doodles in the margins of his books, and barely any mention of assignments. 

“Look, it’s not like I try to forget, it’s just I’ve got a lot on the go, you know?  There’s football, I help my dad run his motel, I just forget,” protested Poe. 

“I’m not trying to be on your case or anything but you’ve gotta at least keep up,” said Finn.  He flipped back to Poe’s costume plans and designs, “I mean, clearly you’re smart and you can do all sorts of things but…I just don’t see how you can forget all the time.  Have you tried keeping a schedule?  I’m sure there’s an app that’ll give you reminders.” 

“I’ll look into it,” said Poe. 

“I’m going to steal your phone and download one for you if you forget,” threatened Finn. 

“Come on, you know I wouldn’t forget on purpose,” said Poe, trying to play it off. 

“I know, but I worry about your grades.  If you fail English it’ll screw up a lot of stuff,” said Finn. 

Poe frowned.  He knew his grades weren’t the greatest, especially in the book-heavy subjects like Math and English.  He just…couldn’t focus.  It was hard to describe, but when he wasn’t working with a concrete example, something he could see or touch, or if what he was reading didn’t grab his attention, he just couldn’t focus on it.  He understood physics just fine when he was driving, and he understood how to figure out an arch okay when he was throwing a ball, but as soon as a book was put in front of him and he was told to make a graph using a quadratic equation, his mind turned itself off. 

He also knew that wasn’t good.  Finn was in the top percentage of all his classes.  Between that and being good at soccer, he was probably eligible for a few scholarships and would probably be able to take his pick of colleges.  Poe on the other hand was almost completely dependent on football.  He knew his best changes for getting into the good colleges was if he got scouted.  It hadn’t really bothered him until he started seeing Finn and things got serious.  Finn was hoping they could go to the same college after high school.  He hadn’t said it, but Poe had figured it out by the way Finn kept bugging him about grades and homework. 

It wasn’t like they would have to break up if they went to different schools, but being together would be harder.  They could talk on the phone or over skype and text each other every day, but it wasn’t the same.  They wouldn’t be able to cuddle or hold hands or kiss, or see even each other without heavy pixilation.  They would probably be able to get through it, but it would be hard, and it wasn’t the way either of them really wanted things to go.  He hated to think he would put their relationship in trouble because he didn’t write a couple paragraphs about some stupid book on time. 

“I’ll work on it, promise,” assured Poe, “Have I ever let you down before?” 

“No…” said Finn.  He checked his watch, “Shit, I’ve got to get to the third floor, see you at lunch.” 

Poe did a quick check over his shoulder.  Most people were cool with them, but there were still a few idiots in the school who got pretty nasty if they saw two guys or girls holding hands.  Seeing nobody he gave Finn a quick kiss on the cheek, “See you at lunch.” 

   ***  

“Ms. Ciel-Marsh, do you know why you’re here?” 

Rey’s mouth was completely dry as she sat across from the principal.  She had a feeling, but she didn’t want to say it out loud.  She clasped her hands in her lap as she shook her head, the three buns in her hair bouncing slightly as she did. 

The red-haired principal sighed and took a form out of his desk, “This morning Mr. Mandetat from Home Economics came to my office.  He said somebody took a number of things from the refrigerators there.” 

Rey looked down, embarrassed, “I asked on Thursday.  He said a bunch of things were about to go bad so I could help myself to whatever I wanted.” 

“Were those his exact words?” asked the principal. 

“Yes,” said Rey. 

“I see…just a miscommunication then,” said the principal, shaking his head slightly before sliding the paper into a waste bin beside his desk, “He had meant you could help yourself to anything that was about to expire.” 

“Oh…” said Rey, her face burning with embarrassment, “I didn’t know…I thought he meant anything.” 

“It’s not your fault if he wasn’t clear with you,” said Principal Hux, “You’ve never had any trouble before, I didn’t think you would have taken those things unless you thought you were allowed to have them.” 

“Does he have a list of things I shouldn’t have taken?  I can replace them,” offered Rey. 

“That isn’t necessary,” said Principal Hux, “It was nothing we don’t have the budget for.  I just needed to clear this up.” 

Rey nodded slightly and reached for her bag.  She had math next, but she couldn’t think about it.  All she could think of was what an awful mistake she had made and how she would face the home economics teacher who had been nice enough to let her raid the fridges.  Certainly she could never ask for that sort of favor again after this. 

“Though I need to ask, are you in some sort of trouble?” asked the principal. 

“No, why would you think that?” asked Rey. 

“Because, from my experience, when one or more young people raid a cupboard, they usually go for the marshmallows, chocolate chips, or snack foods, not the fruits and vegetables,” said the principal, “Now, I could be wrong, perhaps those are just the things you like, but I don’t see why someone would take something they ought to be able to have at home.  Am I reading too deeply into this?” 

He wasn’t, and that was the worst part about it.  Rey barely remembered her parents, and had even less of a recollection as to what happened to them.  What she did know were foster homes and foster parents, some good, others not, and the most recent, Unkar Plutt, was the latter.  He barely provided for her at all, and expected her to earn everything she got.  She might have understood if his system had been fair.  Learning to earn things for herself was a good lesson, especially since Plutt himself seemed to barely be getting by with his scrap business…but she didn’t think that ‘earning her portion’ ought to apply to everything, not while she was still just a kid.  With any luck though, social services would bust him, she couldn’t see Plutt passing an inspection and had no idea how he’d managed to become a foster in the first place, and Rey could spend her last few years as a minor in the custody of someone who wasn’t such a bastard. 

She hated being at his house and found every conceivable excuse to stay out of it.  She tried out for sports teams, joined clubs, took on every extra challenge and contest she could just so she wouldn’t have to go back right after school.  Thank goodness for Mr. Solo.  As soon as she graduated he promised to take her on full-time.  Then she could have her own little apartment where she wouldn’t have to worry about being dependent on someone who was either deliberately cruel or horrifically out of touch with how to treat someone in their care. 

In the meantime, she knew how to scavenge for food.  She knew when a few restaurants tended to throw out unused produce, and where to hang out when the lunch ladies were trying to get rid of things they couldn’t sell in the cafeteria.  She was always discreet.  She didn’t want anybody to know her secret.

She just wanted to be a normal girl who lived a normal life and pretend she had never needed to go dumpster diving. 

“No, nothing’s wrong, I just thought I was allowed to take them,” lied Rey, “I don’t like wasting things.” 

The principal didn’t seem to believe her.  He went to a filing cabinet and reached inside for a folder, “Well, you might not be, but I’m sure there are students here with troubles…we had a few canned food drives in September and earlier this months.  Here’s the addresses for the food-banks we donated them to.  Even if you don’t need the help, maybe you could pass these along to someone who does.  Or if you see something in the refrigerators you can take but don’t like, you could drop it off for us.” 

Rey looked at them as the principal slid them across his desk to her.  She supposed he had to be nice in these sorts of situations.  If he didn’t look after his students then he’d probably get fired.  It benefited him less than it did her, but Rey couldn’t help suspecting an ulterior motive at play somewhere.  She had seen it so many times before she had a hard time believing that people could be unconditionally nice. 

“Thanks but, I don’t think I’ll need it,” said Rey, memorizing the addresses before pushing it back. 

“If you insist,” said the principal, though he clearly wasn’t happy at her refusal.  He seemed a bit worried, “And we are working on starting up a breakfast program.  Too many students falling asleep in first and second period because they forgot to eat.  Maybe you’d like to come in early and volunteer?  I’m hoping it’ll get off the ground by mid-November.” 

“I guess it would look good on a resume,” conceded Rey.  Breakfast was always the hardest to come by since her current guardian didn’t always have, or sometimes she suspected, feel like giving her something in the mornings.  She supposed nobody would suspect if she nibbled a piece of toast while she helped out in the cafeteria. 

“I’ll keep you posted then,” replied the principal, looking a great deal more relieved. 

“Um…you wouldn’t happen to have one of those bulletins about costumes, would you?” asked Rey, changing the subjects. 

“Of course,” said the principal, going through his filing cabinet and handing her an orange fliar, “No weapons or anything meant to simulate a weapon, nothing that would violate the dress code, nothing offensive, and yes, I can tell the difference between a ghost and KKK outfit…not that I hope I need to warn you about that.” 

“No.  Goodness no,” said Rey, wrinkling her nose, “But with the weapons…would a lightsaber count?” 

“Lightsaber?” asked the principal.  He thought for a moment, “Oh, that laser-sword thing.  I know you wouldn’t hit anyone with it, but you probably shouldn’t.  Otherwise I’ll have to let everyone have something like them and…well I hope you can imagine how that would end.” 

Rey could, and as awful as it probably would have been for the staff, a school-wide lightsaber fight sounded like it could be a lot of fun with the right people. 

“Well, that’s all.  Sorry to keep you from your class,” said the principal. 

“Hey, Hux, I have a spare so I thought I’d…” 

Rey turned and bit back a groan.  The Art TA Kylo Ren seemed to be out to get her.  He was constantly on her case about something or another and it seemed she could do nothing to please him, let alone keep him neutral and indifferent.  She did her assignments, he lectured her about improper technique, she entered extra contests, he reminded her that nobody liked a show-off, she tried to help fix a speaker, he threw a massive tantrum and destroyed thousands of dollars in sound equipment.  It was like somebody had given an overgrown baby the TA position. 

“Learn to knock?” offered the Principal.   

The TA looked in and glared at Rey like she had just stolen his firstborn child.  He always seemed pathetic when he got like that.  He was good looking, in a sort of unconventional way, but it did nothing to excuse his behaviour.  Especially when he got mad at her for doing nothing but sit in the principal’s office when she had been called to see him. 

“I’m going,” mumbled Rey. 

“Thank you for coming,” said the principal, scribbling down something in a notebook. 

She stopped for a moment to stare down the TA.  She had absolutely no idea what she had ever done to him to deserve his constant ire.  At least he wasn’t following her around and yelling, ‘You need a teacher!’ anymore.  That had been embarrassing for both of them…  

“So, have you thought about those tutoring sessions?  Because your sketching needs work,” asked the TA. 

Rey rolled her eyes and brushed past him muttering, “Creep…” 

As the door closed she heard him begin simpering, “Hux!  Did you hear what she said!?” 

“Stop being a baby,” countered the principal, “Hounding a student to stay after school alone with you _is_ creepy.” 

“No it’s not it’s…

“…” 

“…oh shit it is kind of creepy when you say it like that,” mumbled the TA. 

“For god’s sake Ren, leave that girl alone before somebody sues us!” 


	5. Prelude to Fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's two days late, but here's an update! Yay?

It was two weeks since Hux had talked with Rey and discreetly made a few phone calls.  He’d also gone through her file while trying to get all of the correct contact information.  The list of foster homes was a long one, it had been easier just to call social services.  If there was trouble at Rey’s current home and she was sent to a different home, Hux hoped it would be the last move she would have to make for a long time.  However, if it was a sudden move she would likely have to stay in some sort of temporary arrangement before something more permanent could be found.  

When it came to things like this Hux hated being right.  He hoped he would be wrong for a change.  He had been wrong about Kylo, so perhaps there was a slim chance that Rey’s guardian was…no.  She had accidentally stolen beansprouts of all things.  What sort of teenager grabbed a bag of beansprouts, apples, mixed salad, diced chicken and broccoli from the fridge and left an entire sac of marshmallows and a bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard?  More than the selection, the sheer amount she had taken, presumably for herself, was alarming. 

Situations like that made Hux worried.  Most of the students at FO High made life awful by their own design, at least on some level.  They might have been at a social disadvantage, had less privilege as people had taken to saying, but at some point they made their own stupid choices and had to pay the price for them.  Things like pulling the fire alarm for fun or on a dare, starting fights, choosing to use slurs and hate speech, bringing knives to school, the list could go on, the individuals who chose to do those things were the only ones who could be held responsible for them.  Hux had long since lost his sympathy for people whose stupid actions held them back.  But for Rey, her home situation wasn't her fault.  Raiding the Home Ec fridges for food likely wasn’t her first choice.  At her age she should have someone providing those sorts of necessities for her. 

Then there were students with disabilities.  Sometimes parents refused to acknowledge that there was an issue at all, thinking there was some sort of shame or that something was wrong with them as parents if their child was depressed or autistic or had a deficit disorder.  Others simply didn’t know how to identify the disorders and simply assumed their child was naturally melancholic, or just a little more anxious than average.  When they were held back or their grades suffered because they didn’t have support or anyone to teach them how to manage, adapt and cope, they weren’t really to blame for their failings.  Hux hated seeing students fail through absolutely no fault of their own.   

He really shouldn’t have been thinking of this during his first visit to his boyfriend’s apartment. 

He pulled into the car…the parking lot before looking up at the building.  Kylo already explained that he rented one of the the basement apartments in his building, that he liked it because it was a little more soundproof than the rest of the building in case he became ‘shouty.’  He also said it had the most space, and while a lack of natural light he preferred made it less ideal for his art, he had more space to set up a studio or keep multiple projects on the go. 

Hux knocked on the door with a small bundle under his arm.  It was early in the morning, the day of the school’s Halloween event, and he and Kylo agreed to swap clothing for the day.  Nobody ought to know that they had traded with each other.  The clothes Kylo said he had chosen were older, and Hux had picked things he had set aside to put in a donation box, gently worn things that he hadn’t worn to school often, if at all.  Nobody should be able to realize what they had done. 

Kylo opened the door, “Hey, come on in.” 

Hux nodded and entered, immediately looking for a rack or mat to leave his shoes.  He found none.  Looking around he asked, “Where should I…?” 

“Oh, you can keep them on if you want,” said Kylo. 

Shoes on in the house.  It wasn’t _his_ house though, Kylo was allowed to have his own rules in his house…Something about walking around a home with dirty shoes on felt wrong though. 

“I’ve got a lot of stuff for you to look through.  It’s a good thing we’re almost the same height.  I mean, we’re built different, but we should be able to find something that’ll fit,” said Kylo, motioning for Hux to follow.  He grinned slightly, “I’m actually kind of excited to dress you up.  You always look sort of the same, so I can’t wait to see you without khakis and collared shirts. 

Hux wouldn’t admit it, but he had thought the same.  He wondered what it would be like if he managed to clean Kylo up a little.  The TA’s usual style involved piercings, tight sweaters, the colour black, ‘formal’ jeans, and even more black.  If he made himself a bit cleaner cut though, with the sharp edges men’s clothes tended to be cut with, he thought Kylo could look quite nice.  His long hair could be tied back as well, something Hux hadn’t seen his boyfriend try yet. 

“Right well, me first or you first?” asked Hux. 

“How much time do you think you would need to get me figured out?” asked Kylo. 

“Not long.  Actually, could I see what you have on hand?  Any vests, shirts or things that aren’t jeans?” asked Hux. 

“Uh, yeah, one or two things, I think…” muttered Kylo, “My bedroom’s this way, we can have a look in there.” 

Kylo’s bedroom was a wreck, and that was putting it lightly.  Hux reminded himself once more that this was not his house as he surveyed floors that hadn’t seen a broom or vacuum in months, clothes in multiple piles on the floor, an overflowing waste bin, garbage and wrappers strewn about, and a dead cactus on the windowsill.  How could anyone manage to kill a cactus!? 

“I’m sure it’ll perk up.  I’ve been watering it a lot,” said Kylo, “That’s how you get plants healthy, right?” 

That explained it. 

Hux ignored that and looked through Kylo’s closet.  It would be better if he had something better fitted to his frame, then Hux could select colours and decide on what accessories, if any, Kylo would need.  At least for today, the piercings would have to come out.  He spotted a pair of slacks that looked like they’d never been worn before, “Why don’t you wear these?  They look nice.” 

“They’re beige.  They just didn’t fit with everything else,” protested Kylo. 

It didn’t take Hux long to find some shirts, “These are all good…I’m surprised I haven’t seen you wear them before.” 

“They’re just sort of boring,” said Kylo with a shrug.  Hux looked over his shoulder, cocking his brow, which caused Kylo to stammer, “N-not that I think they’re boring on you.  It’s just that when I wear them I don’t really feel like myself.  I mean, if you look at me in my usual clothes you get that I’m kind of a hipster, I like dark stuff, maybe deduce that I’m artistic.  Those are parts of myself I want people to see first.  If someone saw me in that they wouldn’t see any of that.” 

“No, they’d think you were a well-mannered, polite individual.  How terrible,” muttered Hux. 

Kylo crossed his arms, “You know, you really shouldn’t judge people based on how they dress.” 

“It’s not that.  I was taught from a young age that dressing nicely was a way to show proper respect for the people around you, especially in professional environments.  Because of that, whenever I see people dressed more casually for work I assume it’s because they don’t care,” explained Hux. 

“That’s just it though, you don’t know, you assume,” countered Kylo, “I know I have problems, and aside from some…unfortunate incidents, I haven’t done anything to deliberately disrespect anyone on staff, I just dress differently.” 

“But that’s why we have a dress code,” argued Hux, “You might not mean to disrespect someone, but sometimes what you wear can make someone else uncomfortable.  Like when boys wear their pants halfway down their asses.  They might be trying to make a statement, but it also says that their statement is more important than the comfort of whoever’s forced to sit behind them and look at their underwear every time they have to glance up or down.” 

“Oh?  Do my sweatshirts and jeans get you hot under the collar?  Make you uncomfortable?” asked Kylo slyly. 

“You know they don’t,” said Hux, rolling his eyes.  He set the pants and shirt he had picked on the cleanest part of Kylo’s bed, “These should do for now.  I have some sweater-vests, this burgundy one should be nice, and a tie.” 

Kylo grimaced, “Do I have to wear a tie?” 

“Why not?  I’ll even let you tie it loosely if it upsets you that much,” said Hux. 

“You don’t get it.  This sort of stuff is…It’s not me.  I don’t feel like Kylo Ren when I dress like this…” muttered the TA. 

“Well, this holiday started with a tradition of dressing like whatever scares you most to keep monsters at bay.  Perhaps this’ll be good for both of us,” said Hux with a shrug. 

“Maybe…” mumbled Kylo.  He tried to recover some of his usual humour as he asked, “Should I change here for you?  Give you a private show?” 

“That depends.  How long do you think it’ll take to get my outfit sorted out?” asked Hux with a serious tone. 

Kylo seemed to be trying to think of a clever rebuttal, but changed his mind when he spotted the clock.  He grimaced, “Right, I’ll just have to give you a show later.  I wanted to start by giving you a bit of a makeover.” 

“Makeover?” asked Hux. 

“That’s right.  Just a few small things.  I can do a temporary tattoo with some henna, and I kind of wanted to do a little makeup around your eyes.  You’re already really pale, so I don’t think you need any foundations,” observed Kylo. 

“You want to put makeup on me?” demanded Hux. 

“I’m sorry, which of us just said this holiday was all about dressing like things that scare us?  Clearly the way I dress and used to dress freaks you out, so maybe this will help you see that it’s not such a big deal,” teased Kylo, “I’ve got my stuff and more reference photos in the studio.  I’m going to hold off on changing until we’re done with anything that can stain or spill.” 

“It stains?  Should I get something to cover myself with?” asked Hux. 

“Nah, I’ve got some towels around here somewhere.  We’ll just hook them into your shirt collar,” said Kylo.  He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through something.  He mumbled slightly as he concentrated on the pictures, “I’ve got better pictures in the studio, but this is basically what I’m going for.” 

Kylo held up the phone and Hux couldn’t help gawking slightly at it.  It was a man with fluorescent red hair.  He must have been some sort of model, the picture looked fairly professional.  Under his collar a tattoo was visible, hinting at more underneath his shirt.  His expression was one that Hux, learning through observation, was meant to be a sort of ‘come hither’ look.  He cocked his brow slightly.  If Kylo had a fetish for red-haired men, he wouldn’t be the first Hux had encountered.  One photo was hardly enough to make that sort of accusation but it did make Hux worry slightly.  He hoped Kylo was liked more things about him than an incidental physical trait. 

Hux wasn’t even sure how that was supposed to work.  He could understand liking a trait, finding one colour or shape more appealing than another, but he couldn’t understand looking at a person and thinking, just based on their appearance, that he would want to have sex with them.  He supposed it was a little hypocritical, wanting Kylo to look past his looks after their conversation about not judging by appearances. 

“I’d like to put it right here,” said Kylo, hooking a finger into Hux’s collar, “Is that okay?” 

“And it’ll wash off?” asked Hux. 

“It’ll take a while but it'll fade away, and I’ll make sure you can hide it under your collar.  I’d really like to do this, but if you hate it we don’t have to,” said Kylo. 

He didn’t particularly want to have a tattoo, even if it was only for a little while.  He thought of all the awful stares he would get just with the change of clothes…but Kylo wanted to try this.  Hux knew he kept their sex-lives in a stranglehold, so the least he could do was indulge a few little whims here and there.  It was just a Halloween costume, and in a few weeks there would be no sign that it had ever happened. 

Hux reached up and unbuttoned his collar, “We can try it once since it's a special day.” 

    ***  

Poe was infinitely satisfied with the way his costume had turned out.  After watching a ton of tutorials on building his own costume plates and armour, he managed to build his own slave-bikini.  His parents were aware that he was working on a costume, that it was from Star Wars, and that he was being Princess Leia, but he hadn’t told them that he was going to be Slave-Leia.  He was sure his dad would think it was hilarious and his mom would just sort of role here eyes at the whole thing, but he thought it would be best to surprise them, show them the whole thing after he came home from the Halloween Party at Jessika’s. 

He packed it into his bag carefully, arranging his notebooks around it.  He had managed to complete most of his assignments in the last couple of weeks.  They hadn’t exactly been the greatest things ever penned by mankind, but they were good enough for passing marks.  He’d inherited his mom’s athletic talent, but it seemed her smarts skipped a generation.  Poe wondered why that was.  It wasn’t like his dad was low on brains, despite his laid back attitude.  His mom often told him, “It’s in there, it’s all in there Poe, you just have to find a way to get it out.”

How to get it out?  He could focus on sports, focus on driving, focus on crafts and shop and things like that.  So why was it that the second he opened a book it was all gone?  The ability to focus was there, so why did it go away?  The obvious answer was because the books were boring.  Sitting at a desk with pencils, pens and paper was really boring.  Was the secret to focusing finding a way to make the whole thing not-boring?  It seemed impossible.  Even with how much he wanted to make sure he and Finn could go to the same college together, he just…couldn’t.  He managed to do everything necessary to finish his assignments, but as soon as he finished he felt so drained and exhausted. 

How to fix this?  How to make it something he could sit and work on for hours like he did with his costume without feeling worn out?  He had a goal, he had incentive, so what was keeping him from being able to dive into books the way he did with other things? 

He could think about it later.  Right now he had, for once, finished all his homework, he was going to meet up with Finn, have a lot of fun with Rey and then go to Jessika’s party.  Today was going to be awesome and he could think about work in November, maybe a little after the second…or after a couple weeks, or just make it a New Year’s resolution… 

“ _I’m heading out_ ,” called Poe in Spanish, barreling down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder, “ _And I’m going to a party so I won’t be back until late_.” 

His mom looked up from her usual place in the corner, holding a cup of coffee in both hands, “ _Are you driving?”_

“ _Yeah, I’m picking up Finn and a friend of ours_ ,” said Poe, grabbing a piece of toast and putting a slice of tomato on it. 

“ _Sounds fun, but you’re driving so no drinking_ ,” she reminded him. 

“ _Come on mom, you know I’d never do that_ ,” said Poe, rolling his eyes slightly. 

“ _I have to say it, otherwise I worry_ ,” she said with a shrug. 

“ _No, I’m pretty sure you’re still going to worry_ ,” his dad interjected teasingly. 

His mom stuck her tongue out at him when she thought he had returned to his newspaper.  Turning her attention back to Poe she added, “ _And make sure to be extra careful tonight.  There’s lots of parties going on, lots of people going out looking for trouble and little kids wearing dark clothes.”_  

“ _I’ll be extra-super-amazing-ultra careful_ ,” promised Poe, “ _I probably won’t be back until early morning though.  Like, two or three AM-ish?  So you don’t have to wait up_.” 

“ _Have fun, call if you need anything_ ,” said his dad. 

“ _But don’t have your principal call us again_ ,” warned his mother, “ _He’s been more than fair with you, and he’s much better than the assholes who ran the school into the ground_.”  She sighed and shook her head, “ _Saying you graduated from that high school used to mean something_.” 

“ _Son, I think your mother’s leaving me for your hot, young principal_ ,” said his dad as seriously as he could. 

She glared at him, “ _Really?”_

“ _Oh, Principal Huxy is so nice, he speaks Spanish with me, and he’s the best thing that could have happened to that school…”_ sighed his dad in the worst falsetto imaginable before laughing, “ _Tired of the usual spices?  Looking to mix things up with a little Irish ging-?”_

His mom reached for her sandal and his dad cut himself off by taking a sip of coffee. 

“ _I’m taking off, don’t marry my principal, mom_ ,” said Poe, shoving his toast and tomato into his mouth.  Through a mouthful of food he added, “ _If you left dad my poor little heart couldn’t take it_.” 

As he turned the corner he heard his mother tease, “ _His poor little heart will have to take it if you ever use that stupid voice with me again_.” 


	6. I would beat up the Jamaican bobsled team for love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...my anxiety started up again. I should have posted this Monday but I just got super freaked out and for some reason couldn't bring myself to post it. Nobody's been mean to me, it just happens. It might be because my job makes me interact with people a lot and my poor introverted heart can't take it :P 
> 
> But here it is, in all it's ridiculous glory. Hope it's okay. 
> 
> Also, trigger warning for teenagers being dicks: Use of the word 'fag' and Jamaican stereotypes.

Poe was ecstatic.His costume was a hit.

All morning he had been getting comments on it and people asking if they could take selfies with him.He hammed it up as much as he could, pretending to swoon and making over-the-top sexy poses.He’d even taken pictures with a bunch of his team-mates, who took turns carrying him bridal style and posing as his rescuer.He wore an orange-yellow body suit underneath it.It wasn’t flesh-coloured, so Principal Hux wouldn’t be able to complain, but it was close enough that people would get the idea.

Finn stayed nearby.People knew who he was, but they were more impressed with Poe’s home-made slave bikini.At first Poe had felt bad, since he was getting so much attention while Finn stood off to the side to let people get their pictures, but his boyfriend didn’t seem to mind at all.In fact, he seemed to be having just as much fun directing photos when people handed him their phones.He came up with a lot of pretty good ideas too, like pretending to strangle Snapp with part of a fake dangling chain or posing inside a locker like he had just busted out of it.

He heard a few of the usual names he was sometimes called.Never out loud.Nobody ever called Poe anything bad to his face.From time to time that morning he could have sworn he heard someone mutter the word, ‘fag.’He had looked around, but couldn’t figure out who it had been.He wanted to though.Then invite whoever it was out back behind the dumpster to ‘talk’ about their choice of words.

He managed to find one of them though.A big guy hassling a skinny, red-haired kid.He saw the big guy laugh and give the kid a shove, “What are you, some sort of emo-faggot?”

“No, I’m your principal.”

Poe’s jaw dropped as the ‘kid’ turned slightly.Principal Hux was almost unrecognizable.Without his cardigan he looked a lot smaller, and without his hair slicked back his face was completely different.If it hadn’t been for the shape of his jaw and his nose, Poe wouldn’t have been able to tell who it was.His hair had been tousled and held in place by something that wasn’t…whatever Hux usually used to hold it in place.He had dark makeup around his eyes and a little on his mouth that made his skin look frighteningly pale.Almost anemic.His nails were painted black and there was a brown tattoo just visible on the side of his neck.His pants were several sizes too big for him, black with plenty of zippers and silver studs.The red and black sweater he wore was also too big, and multiple bracelet seemed ready to slip off of his slim wrists.

The big guy backed off almost immediately, “P-Principal Hux!?”

“You know we have a zero-tolerance policy for that sort of language, don’t you?” asked Hux, his authoritative posture and tone completely at odds with the way he was dressed.

“Come on, it was just a joke…” said the kid.

“I find your sense of humour unrefined and offensive.I also don’t appreciate being shoved.Go to my office and sit on the bench out front,” said Hux, narrowing his eyes.

“It was a joke!I said it as a joke!” the kid repeated, staring at Hux with a look of exasperation.

“You can go to the office by yourself, or I can add this to a list of things I’ll have to tell your parents when I call them, and to write in your record,” said Hux calmly.

The kid turned, muttering under his breath, “You are such a fucking asshole…”

Hux shrugged and began walking away, muttering to himself in turn, “That’ll be going on the list as well then…”

“Principal Hux!?” exclaimed Poe.

Hux went wide-eyed when he saw Poe looking up at him.His cheeks pinked slightly and he crossed his arms, “Hello Dameron.Good to see you fully-clothed.”

“The aliens released you from their mother-ship!” shouted Poe.

The Principal arched his brow, “…what?”

“Okay sir, since your abduction, the aliens assigned an agent to our school where he has been posing as you for the past few months.He must have gone back to report his findings so they released you!” explained Poe.He put a friendly arm around Hux, “So, in the months that you’ve been gone, the Republicans have nominated The Great Pumpkin as their candidate, Pokémon took over the world, and everyone got freaked out over this thing called Brexit.Don’t worry sir, readjusting will be difficult, but I’m sure we can integrate you back into society.Did they do experiments on you up there?You didn’t get probed did you?”

“I didn’t escape from anything, nothing got probed and get off of me!” snapped Hux, pulling away, “I’ve been mistaken for a student all morning!At first it was very enlightening but now this is just getting ridiculous…”

Looking over Poe and Finn and a few other students he sighed, “It is nice to see that at least some of you read the notices about costume restrictions.”

Finn nodded eagerly.Somehow Hux’s change in wardrobe just freaked him out even more than usual.Poe thought it was great though.He pulled out his phone, “Can I take your picture?”

“Absolutely not!” protested Hux, putting up a hand to shield himself from the phone’s camera, “And that is supposed to stay in your locker for use before and after school only!”

“Come on, you know nobody listens to that rule.So long as nobody uses them in class it’s no big deal,” shrugged Poe, placing his phone back in his backpack.

“Well they should listen to it…” grumbled Hux.He looked up and pointed at someone down the hall as he shouted over the sounds of students milling about, “No face-paint!Go wash that off in the lavatory right now!”

“Sheesh, chill, man,” laughed Poe, rolling his eyes slightly.

“I will ‘chill’ when everyone starts minding the dress-code!” growled Hux.The Principal’s brow furrowed, “I had to send ‘Brittany Spears’ home this morning.”

“Well that doesn’t sound so-”

“She was only wearing half a shirt and brought a live snake.”

“Oh…well…guess there’s one in every school, right?”

“She wasn’t the only one...If you’ll excuse me I have to find the Jamaican bobsled team…” grumbled Hux as he began to stalk off down the hall.

“What’s wrong with the Jamaican bobsled team?” asked Poe, though he was starting to dread the answer.

Hux paused long enough to rant, “Imagine an ignorant lower-middle class Caucasian teenager.Now imagine four of them.Now imagine them acting like Jamaicans.”

“Holy shit…” gasped Poe, “They didn’t…”

“Watch your language Dameron, they’re all being sent home,” snarled Hux, turning on his heel to leave again.

“Are you serious?” Finn called out, “They’re in blackface?”

Poe turned.That was probably the first time Finn had ever talked to the principal voluntarily.The redhead looked over his shoulder, “What?No!Oh, goodness no!They brought a massive brick of marijuana to school!Can’t you smell it?”

Poe sniffed the air, "I thought it smelled like the basement..." 

He heard a kid call out, “Nice goth costume, dude!”

Hux called back, “I’m your principal!Don’t bother me I’m on a manhunt!”

“Are you coming to the party at Jessika’s tonight, cuti- Principal Hux!?”

“I hope none of you are thinking of drinking tonight!”

“Stop appropriating Goth culture!”

“It’s a bloody costume!”

“Man, that guy has zero chill…” muttered Poe, not really knowing what else to say.

“If I had to deal with people in stupid costumes, I’d have no chill either,” grumbled Finn.

“That’s probably the only time I’d want people to have no chill.It’s just…I wonder how he keeps himself from exploding, you know?” asked Poe.

“One of the great mysteries of the universe,” shrugged Finn, “By the way, did you get all your assignments done?”

“Yep!” said Poe, beaming brightly, “They took a while, but I got them done!”

He pulled the books out of his bag and handed them to Finn for inspection, giving a little salute, “Ready to hand in Captain Gummybear!”

Finn began flipping through the book, “Have you got a pen?You made a few spelling mistakes.”

Poe frowned.Today was supposed to be awesome, but things were getting off to a rough start already.Finn was chewing on a pen, he only did that when he was upset about something, and it really wasn’t hard to figure out what.Wearing Halloween costumes was a bit dorky and sometimes people could be dicks, but things were already getting out of hand.He didn’t want Finn to give up something they wanted to do together because a few people were being assholes, but he didn’t want him to be miserable and uncomfortable the whole time.

He leaned on Finn’s shoulder and watched him correct the assignment, “Hey, at least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it’s still pretty offensive.You want me to try to find them first and kick their asses?I’d kick their asses for you if you asked.”

“Principal Hux should be able to handle them just…kind of got freaked out, you know?” asked Finn.

“I dunno.But and if you asked, I would fight them,” said Poe.

“Don’t fight anybody,” said Finn, shaking his head and rolling his eyes slightly.

“I would, I’ve got some pretty sweet moves too!Just picture it, I’d drag them out to the parking lot right now and open a can of whoop-ass,” said Poe.When Finn didn’t react and started to chew the pen again, Poe added, “And I’d do it dressed like this.”

Finn stopped, “You’d go out to the parking lot.”

“Yep.”

“In a slave-Leia outfit.”

“That’s right.”

“And beat up the Jamaican bobsled team while they’re high off their asses?”

“I could take ‘em.”

Finn handed Poe his book back, “I love you.”

“I know,” said Poe jokingly.His eyes went wide, “Oh my god, Gummybear we did the thing!”

“What thing?”

Poe turned and his eyes went wide again.It was Rey, and she looked amazing.She was dressed like Luke in the fourth movie.Poe had expected that she might not have a wig, she wouldn’t have had enough time to order a good one, but her costume was awesome.It looked almost exactly like the one from the movie.She grinned, “Cat got your tongue?”

“How did you make that?” asked Poe.

“I scrounged up some old bed sheets,” said Rey, “The sewing took forever though.”

“You did that by hand?” asked Finn.

“Well, I didn’t have a sewing machine, and I had a mix up with the Home Ec teacher so I figured I might as well just do it by hand,” replied Rey with a smile.She looked at Poe, “I had no idea that was the costume you were going to be wearing.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to wear them to the party tonight.Are you coming?” asked Poe, “I’m bringing Finn, so I can give you a lift there and back.”

Rey smiled and nodded, but something seemed to be going on in her head.Like she was trying to figure something out.Did she have a curfew?Was her house far from Jessika’s?After a few seconds she replied, “I’d love to go, but I won’t need a ride back, I can get home myself.”

“Are you sure?I don’t mind,” said Poe.

“Yeah.I could use the help getting there, but I’m fine getting home,” said Rey.

“Alright,” said Finn, “Do you want to hang out before we go?It’ll be a few hours between school and the party.”

“That’d be great,” said Rey much more eagerly, “After school activities were cancelled.I guess they figured that nobody would show up.”

“They were probably right,” admitted Poe.

“Just as well, I haven’t had a chance to unwind in ages,” said Rey, “I’ve been run off my feet with everything and to top it all off there’s that…is that him?”

“Who?” asked Finn.

“The crazy Art TA,” mumbled Rey, pointing behind them, “It can’t be him…”

The man she was pointing to looked nothing like Kylo, at least at first.Clean-cut in a pair of pressed slacks, shirt and tie, he kept his head down as he walked along.He had a burgundy sweater vest that looked a size or two too small for him and had his black hair pulled back into a man bun.He kept his eyes on the floor, looking at his feet through a pair of reading glasses.

Poe started.Hux’s pants had been too big.Kylo’s vest was way too small.The two of them had spent a night together at his dad’s motel, prompting Kylo to chase after the principal.Could it be that the two of them had actually…but Hux was asexual.How did they…?

Poe tried not to think about his principal and the Art TA doing the do.

Kylo kept walking and didn’t look up.He looked like the other teachers usually did so nobody paid him much attention, and when people did realize who he was they did exactly what Rey did.They all just sort of stopped and stared, not knowing exactly what was going on.It was weird to see Kylo Ren looking…professional.

“Hi Kylo,” said Poe, arching his brow, “Um, what’s you’re costume supposed to be?”

“Something that scares me…” muttered Kylo, glancing to the side before walking faster, as if trying to get away.

He arched his brow.Kylo was afraid of something to do with dressing for a white collar job?Finn gave Poe a look, “I can’t figure out if that’s really deep or kind of pathetic.”

“Pathetic,” replied Rey bluntly.

“Ouch!Guess you’re still not over the dance thing,” laughed Poe.

“Or any of the others, that’s just the biggest thing,” exclaimed Rey, “He keeps telling me I’m not doing as good as I could in art and asking me to stay after class and after school for extra lessons.How creepy is that!?”

“Maybe he’s being friendly?” offered Poe.

“Well I’m the only one he’s being friendly to and it’s ridiculously intense…” said Rey, “Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and you’re not, but when someone like that keeps singling you out it’s just so, so creepy and I hate it.Combine with the dance and I really think he’s out to get me.”

“When you say it like that, yeah,” said Finn sympathetically.

“Principal Hux has talked to him, and I’ll admit Kylo’s been less zealous over the last few months, but until the ‘you need a teacher’ speeches stop, I won’t think he’s capable of changing,” said Rey.

It was harsh, but reasonable, given the circumstances.Poe had been sent home just before what had come to be known as the ‘dance incident’ happened.He hadn’t seen it, but he heard second and third hand and apparently it had been terrifying.He was surprised that Kylo had kept his job.He heard something about Superintendent…what was his name…Smoke?Snuck?Whatever his name was, apparently he was the reason that Kylo hadn’t been fired.Unless…if Kylo and Hux were sleeping together…no, that didn’t sound like Hux at all.The principal was so obsessed with keeping things orderly he would never choose to keep a teacher on after going as off the rail as Kylo had without being muscled into it by someone higher up than him.Right?

He wished he could have asked.Finn might be able to figure the whole thing out.But in the meantime it was all just gossip.

“Well, let’s just get through the day so we can party tonight,” said Poe, “I didn’t come to school in a bikini to be miserable.”

“Why did you come to school in a bikini?” asked Rey, “You know Princess Leia has other costumes.”

“So I could help you guys have a good time,” said Poe, posing dramatically, “My dignity is but a small price to pay in exchange for-”

“Making another scene,” finished Finn, rolling his eyes and prodding Poe in the ribs, making the other boy jump and giggle.His Gummybear knew all about his weak and ticklish spot.


	7. We are so old...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to get this up before I went to work (a 5-10 shift, so I'm missing out on Halloween this year). Sorry for any spelling mistakes and such. The fic has two or three chapters left, so I'll try to finish within the first half of November. 
> 
> I just waned to write these three dorks being happy together.

The day seemed to drag on and on forever.  Classes were okay.  The teachers seemed to have realized that with a holiday going on with all the parties that followed, none of the students would be paying much attention.  Some of them tried though.  Mr. Thanisson seemed determined to get them to graph some…squiggly archy thingies, and Coach Phasma tried to make the most of all the nervous and excited energy by having everyone in her P.E. classes compete for Halloween candy.  Others simply gave up though.  Miss Unamo apparently threw up her hands and walked out of her classes because nobody would stop talking and Kylo nearly through a fit when nobody would pay attention to his lesson, so the Art teacher let everyone watch Disney movies instead of working on projects. 

When the final bell rang though, Poe couldn’t wait to get out from behind all the desks and into his car.  His mind wandered off and on throughout the day on how to kill a couple of hours before Jessika’s party.  The mall was kind of an obvious choice, but always kind of fun and nearly everyone liked going there.  Other things were fun, and sort of expensive.  Poe could count on making enough money working for his parents to cover his own shenanigans, plus sometimes he got tips, but Finn didn’t have a job yet.  He was looking around for one, but seemed to be having a lot of bad luck.  His parents gave him an allowance, but it was a lot less than what Poe made at the motel.   He knew Rey had a job, working with a guy named Han Solo at some repair shop or another, but Poe didn’t know what she was into. 

There were a few things he could think of that were fun and inexpensive.  There was a park they could hang out at, or just stay in his car and hit up a fast food place for burgers and fries.  Chances are there would be food at the party, but man could not live on Doritos alone.  It wasn’t like Jessika would have a full dinner ready for everyone.  Maybe there would be pizza, but Poe found it best to have some before he arrived.  And of course there was one other question that needed answering. 

“Who wants shotgun?” asked Poe, digging through his bag for his keys after instinctively reaching for the pockets in the pants he was currently not wearing. 

“You can sit up front,” offered Finn. 

“Oh, no, you can have it,” insisted Rey. 

“No, it’s okay, you can go ahead.” 

“Well, I don’t want to get between you two.” 

Poe rolled his eyes, he should have seen this coming.  He shook his head, “Just rock-paper-scissors for it.” 

Rey wound up in shotgun with Finn in the back.  Poe called over to them, “I figured we’d hit up a Mc-Dairy-Burger and just hand before we head over.” 

“Mc-Dairy-Burger?” asked Rey, arching her brow. 

“McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Burger King, it doesn’t really matter, just whichever one we happen to pass first,” explained Finn. 

“Oh…uh…I forgot my wallet,” said Rey sheepishly. 

“It’s cool, I can spot you,” said Poe, “And then if ever I forget you can return the favor.” 

“I guess that works,” said Rey, “Though we’d all be in trouble if you forgot your wallet, since you’re driving and all.” 

“Yeah, I guess that’d be bad, but since I’m dressed in this thing I’m sure I could flirt my way out of a ticket,” said Poe, flashing his signature grin. 

“Depending on the cop you probably wouldn’t need the bikini,” added Finn, reaching up in front to fiddle with the radio dials. 

A few minutes and an impromptu sing-a-long of the Bohemian Rapsody later, they were out of the car and ordering at the restaurant.  Poe didn’t mind spotting Rey.  Besides, she was a teenage girl, how much could she eat anyways?  If anything, he was probably going to eat like a pig compared to the other too.  With his natural metabolism and all the running around he did, he was pretty much a bottomless pit.  He could eat anything he wanted without gaining much weight.  His parents told him to enjoy it while it lasted, so he planned to. 

“Don’t hold back Rey, order whatever you want,” assured Poe, watching her look over the menu. 

“Are you sure?” asked Rey. 

“Yeah, it’s all good, get anything you like.  If you can’t finish I could probably help you out,” said Poe. 

“You’re absolutely positive?” asked Rey. 

“Sure as I’m standing,” said Poe with a smile. 

“Well, alright, since you offered,” said Rey shly, tucking her hair behind her ear.  She turned to the cashier, “Alright, I’ll have some large ch- fries with an order of chicken nuggets, the chicken sandwich, a fudge sundae, the garden salad-”

“Does she know there’ll probably be pizza at the party?” Finn whispered to Poe. 

“I don’t know, but this is kind of terrifying and amazing…” Poe whispered back. 

“-a large soda, an apple pie, no, better make that two, a wrap with extra cheese, a double cheeseburger, three muffins, a chocolate shake-”

“Where does it all go?” asked Finn quietly, looking Rey’s small frame over. 

“I have no idea but this is really great,” said Poe. 

“-and a yogurt…oh, you know what, I’m watching my weight so could I get a diet soda instead?” asked Rey. 

“Is that all?” the cashier asked, looking over at Finn and Poe. 

“Um…just some large fries and a coke,” said Finn, slightly stunned. 

“And I’ll have what she’s having!” exclaimed Poe. 

“What!?” Finn practically yelped. 

“Gummybear, never have a met a mere mortal with the stomach to match mine.  We’ll have a food-battle for the ages!” said Poe. 

“You’re going to get sick…” warned Finn. 

“What was just the one time.  And how was I supposed to know I had to jab a thermometer into the chicken to see if it was cooked before I ate it?” asked Poe. 

“Literally _everyone_ knows that,” said Finn. 

“Right, uh…take this number and we’ll bring your order when it’s ready,” said the cashier, handing them a stack of cups and a plastic card with a number. 

It truly was a battle for the ages, though Poe seemed to be the only one competing.  Rey was all smiles and ‘thank you’s and eating as if she’d never have another meal like this again while Poe tried to keep up with her.  Finn rolled his eyes slightly at Poe stuffing himself silly, trying to eat as much food just as quickly as Rey.  It seemed he had finally met his match as far as eating was concerned. 

“Wow Rey, I thought I was the eating champ.  Where does it all go?” asked Poe. 

“Well, I do a lot of sports, and extra clubs, so I don’t always stop to eat and…you know, just things like that,” replied Rey through a mouthful of fries. 

“Haha, I never thought I’d meet anyone who could eat as much as me,” said Poe, “I’m used to having a full meal to myself and stealing half of whatever Finn’s eating.” 

“Which is insane since portion sizes keep getting bigger and bigger in restaurants,” noted Finn, “You’re both going to have heart-attacks.” 

“If I do, can I die in your arms?” asked Poe, flopping over onto Finn’s lap. 

Finn nearly spilled his fries as Poe collided with him.  He managed to catch Poe just in time.  Finn rolled his eyes slightly as Poe laughed up at him, “Come on, we’re having fun and school’s out.  Smile a little.” 

Finn shook his head and couldn’t seem to help grinning, “You’re such a dork.” 

“Yes, but I’m your dork,” replied Poe, “And that makes me the happiest dork alive.” 

   ***  

It turned out there was pizza, and Rey had by some miracle managed to save room for that as well. 

In addition to pizza, parties topped school dances in almost more ways than Poe could count.  The only real advantages the dances had was that there was usually a decent sound system, and the gym was big enough for everyone to be in the same room.  Aside from that, Poe would pick a party over a dance any day. 

Nobody cared if the lyrics in the music were ‘inappropriate’ or ‘too risqué.’  Nobody was really paying much attention to the words anyways.  They could have food and booze, if they wanted, dance however they liked, talk however they liked, and not have a kill-joy principal breathing down their necks about whether skirts were too short, if someone smelled like drugs, or catching someone making out.  Granted, under the bleachers probably wasn’t the safest place to make out, but the point stood that if they had been allowed to make out in the gym, they wouldn’t have had to sneak out in the first place. 

Poe and Finn were currently spectating a game of beer-pong.  Finn drank sometimes, but he usually held off unless Poe was going to be having something as well.  It could be just as fun to watch anyways.  Jessika was currently handing some cocky guy’s ass to him, and the dude was looking a lot less sure of himself than when he started.  Poe didn’t know much about Jessika, they just didn’t have a lot of classes together, but they always came to each other’s parties.  And from that, Poe had managed to gather that Jessika Pava had a liver made from steel. 

Her opponent surrendered and Jessika began setting up new cups, “Next?  How about you, Poe?” 

“Can’t, I’m driving!” Poe called over the music and chatter, signing out the words and moving his hands like he was spinning a steering wheel. 

Jessika nodded, not wanting to pressure him and offered the chance to get beaten by her to someone else.  Poe was pretty sure he’d never seen her lose a game before. 

“Wanna see if there’s a more secluded room?” asked Poe as quietly as he could, putting his arm a little more tightly around Finn, “We won’t have to sneak out this time.” 

“I dunno…” said Fin quietly, “There’s just a lot of people and I thought it might be fun if we just hung out…” 

Poe snorted, “The rooms are all taken aren’t they?” 

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Finn with a slight cough.  Poe laughed as Finn continued, “There is an unoccupied corner of the basement, but it smells like weed down there and I’m pretty sure a bunch of people are getting high and watching Fantasia.” 

Poe nodded and laughed to himself.  He preferred Yellow Submarine when he was getting high.  It might be fun to watch people get high and act silly, but he promised his parents he wouldn’t drink or take any drugs since he was driving, so he didn’t want to come home smelling like a grow-op.  It made him wonder, what did Principal Hux do with all the week from the Jamaican bobsled team?  Probably handed it over to the cops or something.  Poe did grin at the thought of Principal Hux in his goth getup trying to talk with the police. 

Booze and weed were out of the question, but there was always candy.  It was Halloween after all and the rooms were filled with bowls of little chocolate bars and candy.  He had been pretty stuffed from trying to keep up with Rey, but after a while he felt like he could handle some candy.  Speaking of which…

“Hey, where did Rey go?” asked Poe. 

“I thought she went to the kitchen for something.  Maybe she met up with some of the girls?” suggested Finn. 

Poe looked around for any trace of a Luke Skywalker outfit.  He saw a bit of white trying to get to the door.  Was she leaving already?  Poe tapped Finn’s shoulder and pointed after her, “Is she leaving?” 

“I don’t know,” said Finn, starting to weave his way through other people to try to get to her. 

Maybe she had to leave early.  Rey did say that she wouldn’t be needing a lift home.  Maybe it was because she didn’t want them to leave the party because of her.  Still, if she had to leave they wanted to say goodbye to her. 

“Rey!  Hey, Rey!” Poe tried to call to her.  He could see her a little more clearly now, heading to the door with a steel bowl full of candy under her arm.  That was…weird. 

At least until she got to the front door.  There were a few kids dressed as Ninja Turtles holding out their open pillow cases.  By the time Finn and Poe caught up with her the Ninja Turtles were on their way.  Rey turned around, “I heard the doorbell.  I didn’t think kids would be coming here.” 

Poe took a few steps outside and looked over the house.  There was a jack o’ lantern in the window and some other decorations up.  When he was little his parents had told him the houses with lights on and with decorations were okay to visit.  If he was a little kid he probably would have knocked on the door.  Looking back at the party then out at the door, he jerked his head towards the door, “Wanna just hang out here for a while?” 

Rey stepped out, holding the bowl of candy against her stomach, “You won’t be too cold in that?” 

“Nah, I’m good…well, maybe not forever, but I’ll let you guys know if it gets too bad,” assured Poe.  He shrugged as he shut the door behind himself and Finn, “We said hi to pretty much everyone we wanted to, neither of us are drinking…” 

“And all the rooms upstairs are taken?” asked Rey with an accusing grin. 

“No, no that’s…” Finn began to protest before he sighed, “Actually that’s sort of exactly it.” 

“So why not sit out here and hand out candy?” asked Poe.  He laughed a bit, “It’s been a while since I was too old for trick or treating.” 

“When did you stop?” asked Finn. 

“Hm…I think the last time I went out was in my second year of middle school.  I just felt like I was getting too old,” said Poe, settling in on the porch, making sure he didn’t crush his costume.  The concrete was cold and he almost immediately stood up again, “Hey, Gummybear, can I borrow your lap?  My ass is cold.” 

Finn grinned slightly before sitting down and letting Poe climb on top of him.  Rey sat down beside them as Poe asked, “When did you guys stop?” 

“I think it was around the same time.  I just felt too old for it.  I think I was maybe twelve or thirteen when I thought I should be handing out candy instead of going out for it,” said Finn, “How about you, Rey?” 

“Um…it’s…it’s sort of a bit complicated, actually,” she replied. 

“We’ve got all night, don’t worry about it,” assured Poe, pulling Finn’s arms around him for warmth. 

“Well, when I was little my parents left.  I’ve been in foster care ever since then.  It sort of depended on who I was living with,” explained Rey. 

“Oh…” said Poe, unsure of what to say.  Not all of the people he knew came from traditional families with a mom a dad and their biological kids.  He knew some people, like Finn and Snapp, had been adopted, Jessika had two dads, and he quite a few kids in his elementary school mentioned living with parents who were separated.  Rey really shouldn’t have surprised him much.  It might have been because she was still being fostered, despite nearly being old enough to age out of the system. 

“One family…you know those crazy religious people who think Dungeons and Dragons will summon the devil?  They were like that, so obviously I didn’t do anything on Halloween with them.  I was with this other family for a year or so.  We got along really well but, it was just temporary.  I had fun trick or treating with them,” said Rey. 

“You’re not…you’re not upset about it?” asked Poe.

“No, well, yes and no,” said Rey with a shrug, “It’s complicated.  On one hand I’d love to have a stable family, but on the other…I’m sort of hoping my parents might come back for me someday.  If I get adopted it would be difficult if ever they wanted to take me back.” 

Poe nodded and Rey continued, “But, I’d rather…can we pretend I didn’t say anything?  I just want to feel normal around you guys.” 

“You are normal,” assured Finn. 

“Except for the amount of food you can pack away.  Have you ever considered professional pie or hotdog eating?” asked Poe. 

“I have, but I don’t know where I would get in on something like that,” said Rey with a slight laugh, “I’ve heard of them but I’ve never seen one.” 

“Okay, we’re going to have to find you one, because I think you could be amazing at it,” said Poe. 

A little girl in a unicorn costume and her older brother captain America came up to the door, “Trick or Treat!” 

“You guys look awesome!” said Poe, giving the kids a thumbs up. 

Rey put some candy into each of their pumpkin shaped buckets.  The kids said thanks before going back to their parents at the end of the walkway. 

“This is kinda nice,” said Finn, holding onto Poe a little tighter.  Poe appreciated it.  He really should have been wearing a jacket. 

Rey pulled back one of her arm bands to check her watch, “I have maybe another hour before I should start walking to a bus stop.” 

“What time do you need to be home?” asked Poe. 

“I can be home any time I want, but I have to go to work tomorrow morning,” replied Rey, “I want to make sure I can get some homework done tonight.”

“It’s only about eight thirty,” said Finn. 

“I don’t mind driving you,” assured Poe, “Or I could at least give you a lift to the nearest bus stop.  How far is it from here?” 

“Maybe a half hour, walking,” said Rey. 

“So you could hang out with us for another hour and a half-ish and I’ll give you a lift,” said Poe.  He shrugged, “I forgot how lame parties are when you can’t drink or get a room, but it’s fun hanging out with you two.” 

“Heh, first we’re too old for trick or treating, now we’re finding parties boring…I guess we’re getting older,” observed Finn. 

“Yeah, we’re soooo old,” agreed Poe.  He sighed, “I’m so old I remember what VHS tapes are.” 

“And cassette tapes,” added Rey. 

“When there were only one hundred and fifty Pokémon,” said Finn. 

“Don’t forget Mew,” said Poe.  He laughed slightly, “When there were only six Star Wars movies.” 

“We are so past our prime,” giggled Rey, keeping an eye out for trick or treaters. 


	8. Slenderman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...I wanted this chapter out on Halloween itself but, it just didn't work out that way. Still gonna finish this fic, even though the holiday is over. 
> 
> The version of La Llorona that Poe tells sort of combines various versions. It's a legend that's told in multiple countries so naturally as the story travelled multiple versions came into existence. Either way, it's a scary ghost story that gets a listener into a Halloween sort of mood.

Poe didn’t mind leaving the party.  For some reason it just wasn’t as fun as the others.  It seemed if he couldn’t get a room or smoke or drink, there wasn’t much point.  He’d never really thought about it that way before.  Usually when he went to parties it was like putting on a big show.  Hanging out with his friends was fun, but somewhere along the line it turned into wondering who could handle the most or make the biggest impression.  He knew some people liked to start drama, but that had never been his thing.  It was strange, he loved causing a big scene, making a big statement, and he still would, given half a chance.  He just hadn’t felt like it tonight though. 

He wondered why.  The night of the dance he had wanted to make a statement, and admittedly having the whole school as an audience was nice too.  He’d also wanted to get back at Principal Hux for freaking Finn out so badly.  He thought of all the dumb things he’d done at parties before, jumping off roofs into pools, doing shots until he got sick, having dance offs with, well, anyone really, and wondered why he just hadn’t felt like it. 

His parents told him a while ago, last June maybe, when school had been finishing up and everyone was getting ready for summer parties.  They told him someday it just wouldn’t be the same.  He hadn’t really believed them and thought he would be into parties forever, but they said one day things would change.  He might not want to stop drinking, or hanging out, or wanting to have a good time, but it would change, he would change, and the thought worried him a little. 

Maybe he _was_ getting old. 

He had been assured that wanting to have fun would never stop, but that definition of fun might change.  Poe doubted he would have much fun going trick or treating, not the way he did when he was a little kid.  He had also liked handing out candy now, and he very much doubted his five year old self would be eager to share a massive hoard of candy.  It was the same, it was still fun, but it changed.  He had grown up, but it wasn’t really a bad thing. 

It had been a really good thing.  Sitting outside the house, he had gotten to talk and hang out with Finn and Rey.  He probably wouldn’t have done that a year or two ago.  Poe snorted back a laugh as he imagined he would have tried to impress them somehow.  It had actually been how he caught Finn’s attention, stepping up to a karaoke machine someone had set up and started to intentionally sing the world’s worst rendition of ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight.’  Finn had been one of the people tasked with hauling Poe off the ‘stage’ and into the backyard.  Poe had squirmed away from them and made Finn the object of his song, dancing interpretively around him, tangling both of them up in the mic cord and waking up half the neighbourhood. 

But when he thought about it, tonight might not be as memorable, or impressive when he recalled it, but he had enjoyed it.  He’d even convinced Rey to let him give her a lift to the bus stop. 

“My parents are going to be so weirded out.  I told them I’d be back way after midnight,” said Poe. 

“I didn’t mean to take you away from the party,” said Rey. 

“No, I wasn’t really feeling it tonight anyways,” assured Poe.  He looked over at Finn, “But we can go back if you want.” 

“No, it’s fine.  I had fun, but I’m okay with heading home,” said Finn. 

“So where’s your bus stop?” asked Poe, watching along the roads for signs, “And when’s the last bus?” 

“They stop at midnight, so I have time,” said Rey, “Right, if you go around the park and up the street, there’s a convenience store.  The bus I usually take is there.” 

“Why not just go through the park?” asked Poe. 

“Because walking alone at night through a park isn’t exactly safe,” said Rey. 

“Ah, right…” mumbled Poe.  He had been imagining that Rey would have driven or had someone with her.  He glanced back at her with the rear view mirror, “Well, we have a car, and there’s three of us.  We can cut through and then hang out with you until your bus comes.”  He turned on his brights and added, “I’ll drive really slow so there shouldn’t be any trouble.” 

“Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Finn. 

“Gummybear, we both know I’m a great driver.  We’ll be fine.  It’ll give us some time to hang and besides, it’s Halloween.  We should do something at least a little bit creepy,” said Poe. 

“I’ve never seen this place at night.  It could be fun,” said Rey.  She craned her neck to look out the window, “Looks like it’s open too.  We should be fine.”  

“Yeah, but if it’s open, maybe there’s kids wandering around.  I’m okay with going in, I just want to make sure we don’t hit anybody,” said Finn. 

“It’s way too late for little kids to be out.  We’ll have the lights on, and I promise not to do more than ten miles per hour,” said Poe, “There’s a clear road and sidewalks.  We should be okay.” 

“I’m game.  I like looking at the stars at night,” said Rey. 

“Alright, just be careful,” said Finn. 

“I’m always careful,” said Poe, feigning offense. 

“You ran up on a stage, faked a Scottish accent and deliberately angered the scariest principal in the history of everything.  You’re the exact opposite of careful,” said Finn. 

“But I do my best to keep you out of trouble, and I try my best not to hurt anyone,” Poe reminded him, “Tell me you don’t want to go in and we’ll take the street way.  If you don’t like it, we won’t go.” 

Finn sighed and closed his eyes, dropping his head back against the seat, “Fine, let’s drive through the creepy park.”   

“There you have it ladies and gentlemen, let’s have us a Halloween adventure.  Anyone know any scary stories?” asked Poe, “One that doesn’t end with a hook hand in a car door?” 

“Damn…” Rey muttered under her breath. 

“You guys ever hear of La Llorona?” asked Poe. 

“No, is it from…” Rey began, trailing off as she tried to guess the country. 

“Guatemala,” said Poe, “That’s where my family came from, but there are versions of the story in other countries too.  Anyways, a long time ago, there was this woman.  She had a couple kids, but the man she was with didn’t want to raise them.  The woman took her kids to the river one day and let them play while she was washing their clothes.  She wasn’t paying much attention to the kids, and while she was doing the washing, they drowned in the river. 

“She tried to explain herself, but her husband, thinking she drowned them herself sent her away.  Overwhelmed with grief and sadness, she soon followed her children. 

“But the difference between her and her kids was, she didn’t go on to the afterlife.  Not really.  Her spirit still wanders around.  You can hear her crying, especially by rivers and streams, calling out for the children who drowned.  Wishing she’d only been watching them a little closer…” 

Poe grinned wickedly as he glanced at the other two with the rear view mirror, “But that’s just when she’s in a good mood.  When La Llorona is feeling a bit more vengeful, she’ll snatch up children, especially the bad ones, taking them away to try to replace the ones she lost.” 

“Okay…that’s kind of scary,” conceded Finn. 

“You grow up with any ghost stories, Gummybear?” asked Poe. 

“Not really,” said Finn, “Mostly things like Bloody Mary…I could look up some creepypastas.” 

“What’s a creepy pasta?” asked Rey, laughing at the admittedly ridiculous name. 

“Like…urban legends and stuff, sort of,” Finn tried to explain, “Maybe a bit like Slenderman?  People online made up the stories, and some are kind of lame, but some of them are really good.” 

“It’s not a creepypasta, but Marble Hornets freaked me out,” admitted Poe. 

“I have no idea what Slenderman is,” said Rey. 

“Oh my gosh, you have to show her!” said Poe, “Use my phone, use all my data, I don’t care, but she’s got to see this.” 

“Alright, prepare to be super creeped out and not sleep tonight,” said Finn, taking his boyfriend’s phone from the cup holder. 

A few minutes in and Rey had completely lost her mind. 

“Oh my god!” she gasped, catching a glimpse of the mysterious Slenderman in the background of a video. 

“I got goosebumps,” said Finn. 

“This is better than most horror movies I’ve seen,” marvelled Rey, “How have I not heard of this?” 

“I dunno, but I think we’ve got the Halloween groove back,” said Poe with a grin. 

Finn looked out the window, “Hey, Poe…what’s that?” 

“Nice try, Gummybear.  You’ll have to work on your timing,” chuckled Poe. 

“No, I mean it, look,” repeated Finn, pointing out the driver’s side window.  Poe glanced out the window and slowed the car to a stop.  It looked like something.  Maybe a balloon.  Some kid must have lost it.  It was just kind of hanging there in the trees.  Fin leaned over to have a closer look, “I thought it was the moon, but it’s not bright enough.” 

Rey snorted, “Oh, I see what’s going on now.  You two really had me going there.” 

Poe arched his brow and looked at Finn.  His boyfriend shrugged and mouthed, ‘I don’t know.’  Poe turned back to face Rey, “What do you mean?” 

“The drive through the woods, the scary stories, making sure I knew who Slenderman was.  You guys take Halloween really seriously,” said Rey, commending them with a grin, “You two almost gave me a fright.” 

“We still don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Finn. 

“The Slenderman dummy you two set up,” said Rey, pointing out the window. 

Poe looked at Finn, “I didn’t set up a dummy.” 

“I didn’t either,” said Finn. 

“Oh come on, just admit it.  The game’s up,” said Rey, pointing out the window.

Poe looked at the girl in the back seat, “Rey.  I didn’t set up a dummy.” 

Finn looked out the window, “Poe…Poe it’s coming towards the car!” 

Poe looked out the window.  The grey shape, illuminated faintly by the headlights and the moon was, in fact, inching towards the car.  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, “I don’t know who that is.  Don’t worry, we can outrun him even if we only do twenty or thirty.” 

He took his foot off the break and resisted the urge to floor it.  Slenderman wasn’t real.  It was something someone on the internet made up.  What was real were crazy people who dressed up in costumes or put on masks and attacked people in the dark. 

“What if there are more of them?” asked Finn. 

“Better to move forward than try to go in reverse the whole way,” said Poe, “We’ve got to be at least half way through by now.” 

“Alright, now you two are freaking me out,” said Rey. 

“It’s not us, we don’t know who that is,” Poe called over his shoulder. 

“It might be one of those creepy-clown guys,” said Finn, “We should just keep calm and try not to worry about it.  We’re in a car.  They can’t outrun a car.” 

“Probably just some loser scaring someone for laughs,” said Poe, trying to shrug off the sight, “You guys didn’t notice anyone wearing a costume like that at school?” 

“No, Principal Hux banned masks,” said Rey, checking behind her.  She gasped, “Poe!” 

Poe looked in the rear view mirror and saw a spindly looking man in a suit step onto the road just behind them, staring after the car before following at a leisurely pace. 

“He couldn’t have run that fast,” said Finn, “There must be a lot of them.” 

“We’re in a car.  We’re safe in the car.  Finn, can you or Rey get a signal?  I think we need to call for help,” said Poe, trying to stay calm. 

Finn picked up Poe’s phone again and shook his head, “There’s no signal out here.” 

“Are you serious!?” exclaimed Rey, checking an old flip phone, “It’s a park, but we’re still in a city!  How is there no signal!?” 

“Okay, we’re going to stay calm, we’re going to drive out of here, call the cops, and then get everyone home,” said Poe evenly. 

There was a loud pop in the distance.  Like a firework.  Almost like a gun.  Was it a gun?  Were a bunch of freaks out in the middle of the woods shooting at them?  He didn’t know.  Startled by the sound Poe stepped on the gas and sent the car surging forward. 

Straight into a depression. 

Everyone lurched forward as the car leaned forward on a forty-five degree angle.  Poe looked at Finn and Rey, “Are you guys okay?” 

“Yeah…but we still don’t have a signal,” said Finn. 

Poe pressed the button to power-lock all the doors.  He turned around, “Okay, I’m going to try to get us out.  If that doesn’t work…” 

He tried to think of a plan.  Did they stay put?  If there was someone out there with a gun they were sitting ducks.  With the lights on they would be perfectly visible to whoever those people were.  If they were some sort of gang, they would be there soon.  The car was sturdy, but if things got really bad they’d have nowhere to hide. 

Poe reached over and opened the glove box in front of Finn.  When he first got his license his parents helped him put together an emergency kit in case he ever got stranded.  There was a spare phone battery, a charger, candles, a few glow sticks, a fleece blanket and a flashlight.  It had been in case his car broke down and he was stuck in the cold until he could get a tow, but it seemed pretty handy now. 

“We stick together and we head towards the other side of the park,” said Poe, grabbing the glow rods and flashlight. 

Finn was scared.  Rey was scared.  They were all scared and watching out their windows as Poe tried to put the car into reverse.  It was useless.  It had rear-wheel drive and the rear wheels were whirling around in the air helplessly.  He looked at them, “We…we could try cutting the lights and waiting them out.” 

“No, I don’t want to stay,” said Rey, shaking her head. 

“We should go get help,” agreed Finn. 

Poe nodded and passed out the glow rods, “We’ll use these for now, and then the flashlight once we get a signal.” 

Poe really hoped that whoever was out there wasn’t interested on going The Walking Dead on them.  He felt like a little kid, freaked out over stories and people in costumes, but if felt awful, he felt scared.  They couldn’t get the car out, and he didn’t trust whoever was out there to give them a hand with getting unstuck. 

Cutting the engine he cracked an orange glow rod and hung it around his neck.  They were light up by an orange glow and the rest of the park was only illuminated by the pale light of the moon.  He stepped out of the car first and kept an ear out.  He didn’t hear anything, but it was hard to tell if there was anything wandering around with a light breeze rustling the leaves in the trees around the part.  He couldn’t see anything so he signalled the others to get out of the car. 

“Let’s just take it slow,” said Poe, looking at the other two, “It might not have been a gun…” 

“It sounded more like a car backfiring,” said Rey quietly, “But I don’t know what a gun sounds like.” 

Aside from movies Poe had never heard a gunshot before, and he was pretty sure Finn didn’t know either.  But Rey was right.  It was probably just a car, and the people they had seen were probably just a couple of assholes trying to freak people out.  Everything was going to be okay. 

“Okay, I think the nearest houses are this way, we can ask someone to use their phone if ours don’t work,” said Finn. 

“Ask to use the phones anyways,” said Rey, “We’re a bunch of teenagers dressed in costumes on Halloween.  If we show up at someone’s door saying we’re running from Slenderman, nobody is going to take us seriously.” 

She had a point.  Poe didn’t think he would believe anyone who ran up to the hotel desk saying they were running away from something as weird as Slenderman.  He resisted the urge to use his phone, worried about stopping to look at the screen or not being able to watch his surroundings if he had his phone out.  Once they saw houses they would call someone.  Cops, parents, then a tow seemed like the best order to go in.  He knew his parents wouldn’t be mad, but he knew he would be ashamed to admit that he drove straight off the road and into a depression.  Of all the boneheaded things… 

The walk through the park was terrifying.  It was weird for Poe to think that he’d been here often enough in the daylight and it never bothered him.  But now, just without lights and some weirdos hanging around somewhere, it was shaping up to be the scariest moment of his life.  Nothing compared to this.  Well, maybe coming out, but even then he had been pretty sure that he wasn’t going to die. 

“I can see lights.  It looks like there’s one house with someone still awake,” said Finn. 

Poe looked down and checked his phone, “I have a signal again, an someone take the flashlight?” 

He handed the large, heavy flashlight off to Rey and dialed 911.  It wasn’t even a full ring in before someone picked up. 

“911, what’s your emergency?” asked a calm, older-sounding woman. 

“I’m in Highview Park.  Me and my friends were driving through and we think there were these guys tracking us,” Poe tried to explained. 

“Okay, what’s your name?” 

“Poe.  Poe Dameron,” he said quietly. 

“Alright Poe, can you tell if anyone’s following you now?”

“I don’t know, it’s really dark.  We’re heading to a bunch of houses,” said Poe, “It was…we saw one guy, then a few miles up someone who was dressed the same as him was walking behind our car, and then there was a loud noise.” 

“Poe, I need you to stay calm.  We’re going to send someone around to check it out.  Can you get somewhere where you feel safe?” 

She didn’t believe him.  Poe didn’t know for sure, but he had a horrible feeling that she didn’t believe he was in any sort of danger.  He was a kid calling on Halloween about people in masks.  It made him question if he had jumped the gun or not, but in his gut, something felt off, scary. 

“Yeah.  Our car broke down, we’re going to try to find somewhere safe,” said Poe. 

“Okay Poe, I want you to stay on the line with me until you get somewhere safe,” replied the woman. 

There was a house across the street from the park.  The jack o’ lantern had been turned off, but there was a light on near one of the windows.  They were still too far to hear any noise but the way ahead looked clear. 

Then he heard something behind him, something close.  It was a snap.  It might have just been a tree branch, but a different thought entered Poe’s mind.  A foot stepping on a branch.  He looked behind him to check and saw nothing but the dark of the park and some trees behind him.  And then something else.  Something grey, like a bulb or a balloon moving closer to- 

“Guys, let’s go!” shouted Poe. 

“Poe?  What’s going on, are you alright?” 

“No, they’re following us!” Poe shouted into the phone.  He tore it away from his ear so he could run faster.  Finn and Rey were already far ahead of him.  He wanted it to be that way.  As scared as he was he wanted them to make it to the house first. 

He turned around and saw the grey bulb and a black, spindly body beneath it go back into the park.  There had been something following them.  What did they want?  Would they follow them to the house? 

Rey got to the door first.  She pulled back the screen door and began and began pounding on the wooden door behind it, “Hello!?  Hello!?  Is anyone home!?”

Within seconds a young looking guy with bright red hair and a brown, henna tattoo opened the door.  He furrowed his brow, “What are the three of you doing here?  Shouldn’t you be-”

“There’s a bunch of creepy guys in the woods!” exclaimed Poe. 

Principal Hux looked around for a moment before opening the door wider, “Come inside, and mind you don’t let the cat out.” 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending the Halloween fic...on Christmas...oops... 
> 
> I just didn't have time to make this fic as good as it could be. I hope you guys at least enjoy silly slice of life stuff with wacky characters working off of each other.

A few hours earlier, Hux had been curled up on his couch trying to forget the whole day.  He shouldn’t have worn the things Kylo had given him.  He should have put his foot down.  When the police had arrived to deal with the Jamaican bobsled team, they had not recognized him.  Hux had to show his driver’s licence before any of them would believe that he wasn’t a teenager.  A good ten minutes later, along with more photo ID and a call from the Superintendent, they were finally convinced that Hux was, in fact, the principal. 

“This was a horrible mistake…” muttered Hux, staring at the TV, barely concentrating on the adventures of the new Enterprise crew.  He already missed Doctor McCoy. 

“The first season is pretty shaky, but after that it gets really good,” assured Kylo. 

“I meant dressing up.  Nobody will believe I’m as old as I say I am,” replied Hux with a slight growl. 

Kylo snorted, “When your hair isn’t slicked back it takes ten years off your face.” 

Hux sighed, “You looked good though.” 

“I look like my grandpa.  And not in a good way,” said Kylo, shifting slightly underneath Hux to pull his tie the rest of the way off.  As he tossed it to the floor it was promptly attacked by Millicent.  Kylo tucked Hux closer against his chest, “I felt like I was something I wasn’t all day.” 

“That is the whole point of a costume, you know,” mumbled Hux.  He watched some annoying boy named Westley once again save the ship from disaster.  The first time it was sort of an interesting character moment, but now this was becoming ridiculous.  He settled against Kylo’s chest, “If I do this at all next year, I’m just going to wear a suit and say I’m a mobster.” 

“And I’m going to do something that doesn’t involve slacks and ties,” said Kylo.  He looked up at Hux, “You know I love you, right?” 

Hux sighed, “What do you want?” 

Kylo suppressed a laugh and said, “I can’t reach the beer with you lying on me.” 

Hux hauled himself up, immediately missing the warmth as he went to the kitchen to get a couple of beers.  He also made a detour to the linen closet to grab an extra blanket.  It wasn’t freezing, but the air was becoming cold enough that it was starting to get uncomfortable.  Coming back to the living room he tossed the blanket over Kylo and started opening the bottles. 

“You know this is most guys’ fantasy, right?  Coming home from a long day at work and having a sexy redhead get him a beer,” teased Kylo. 

“Well, I’m a man, and my dream is to come home to an orderly household and have my boyfriend tell me, ‘we’re on budget, I’ve destroyed nothing, and we’ve gotten no complaints for twenty four consecutive hours,’” said Hux, taking a drink of his own beer before passing Kylo’s to him. 

Kylo took a swig before setting the beer aside and arranging the blanket around them.  Millicent hopped up on the table and sniffed at the bottles before giving both of them a disapproving glare.  Kylo sniggered, “Sorry it’s not milk, kitty.” 

“Hold on,” said Hux, taking his phone from his pocket and taking a picture as Millicent sniffed the other bottle.  He grinned, happy with how the photo came out.  He leaned against Kylo, “You’re the artist, help me pick a filter.” 

“Don’t you have enough pictures of your cat?” asked Kylo. 

“No,” replied Hux bluntly, “Now pick a filter.” 

Kylo rolled his eyes, pointing to a soft pastel one and settling back into the couch with his beer.  They stayed that way for one or two more episodes.  Kylo had been right, the first season of this new Star Trek wasn’t particularly good, and a lot of times they just reused ideas from the other series.  Hopefully this was building up to something though.  Hux could understand them needing to play it safe to make sure the fans of the previous show would watch, but if there was going to be nothing new than it wasn’t really as interesting as the first. 

He drifted off occasionally and played around on his Instagram account.  He uploaded his new pictures of Millicent and tried to think of fitting captions.  He always used the first person, running the account as if he was the cat.  He found it was better that way, especially after the blog became fairly popular.  He didn’t need students prying about his private life. 

Kylo reached up and touched his back lightly, “Hey is…is tonight okay?  Would you be up for it?” 

“I only had one beer, I suppose I could,” said Hux, moving closer. 

“Can I?” asked Kylo, moving his hands down to Hux’s slacks.  It took a moment for Hux to figure out what he wanted, then looked away, flushing and unable to look at Kylo’s mouth.  Kylo snorted again, “You are so adorable when you do that.  The costume’s a nice touch too.” 

Hux wondered how it worked for other people.  He could comprehend liking the way someone looked, or disliking it, but he never saw anyone and thought that he wanted to have sex with them.  He looked down at Kylo, willing himself to make eye contact, “Promise you’ll stop if I tell you to?” 

“Well, yeah, that’s kind of a given,” said Kylo, propping himself up.  He grinned, “All you have to do is sit back and tell me how I’m doing.” 

“Sit?” asked Hux. 

“Mhmm,” replied Kylo, pushing Hux back on the couch as he sat up.  Hux sat with his back buried into the couch and his hands plastered at his side.  Was this really happening?  Yes, it was happening.  It felt wrong and exciting and all those things Hux expected a teenage girl would think about the situation.  He was a grown man, why couldn’t he stop himself from getting flustered?

Kylo was kneeling on the floor in front of him, hands on Hux’s hips as he asked, “You said it’s your first time doing this?” 

“Go ahead and rub it in…” muttered Hux. 

“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” said Kylo seductively.  Hux glowered at him as Kylo explained, “See, it’s a pun, a humorous play on-”

“Do it again and we’re going back to Star Trek,” said Hux firmly. 

“Alright, alright,” said Kylo. 

Hux felt Kylo settle a hand over his crotch and gently began rubbing the area.  He usually needed some physical stimulation to get turned on enough for sex, and through a crash course on kinks he was figuring out that certain scenarios or a particular touch in a particular place could help him get turned on faster.  Kylo’s touches were long, firm presses with the palm of his hand, letting warmth seep through Hux’s slacks.  Hux relaxed slightly, though he continued to grip the couch cushions tightly. 

Then there was a knock at the door.  It was loud, constant, with someone calling out something insistently. 

“I’ll get it,” said Hux, getting up and trying to cut Millicent off as he went to the door. 

“Seriously?” groaned Kylo, “You can be in the middle of that and just walk away?” 

“We can start again in a minute, I’ll just see what they’re after,” said Hux. 

Which was when he found himself face to face with three of his students looking absolutely terrified. 

Hux arched his brow, “What are the three of you doing here?  Shouldn’t you be-”

“There’s a bunch of creepy guys in the woods!” exclaimed Poe.  He was still dressed in that ridiculous costume, but he seemed deathly serious about whatever was going on. 

Hux looked over their heads towards the park across the street.  He didn’t see anything, but this didn’t seem to be a prank.  When Poe Dameron pulled a prank, he was always in control.  Either he’d done something and it had gone out of hand, or there really was someone else in the park.  It was Halloween, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for someone to be out in the woods scaring people passing through. 

“Come inside, mind you don’t let the cat out,” said Hux, holding the door open and keeping Millicent back with his foot. 

Kylo looked up as he saw the students file in.  He looked up in confusion as Poe mumbled something over his phone and hung up a moment later, “Hey, um, I gave this address to the 911 lady.  They’re going to send a car around to have a look.” 

“911?” asked Kylo.  The three looked over at him, stunned as the Art TA continued, “What the hell is going on?” 

“They said there was someone chasing them in the park,” replied Hux when none of the three stunned students would speak up. 

“I’m on it,” growled Kylo, vaulting over the couch and barreling out the door.  

“Kylo no!  Kylo stop!” shouted Hux as his boyfriend rushed past him and out the door.  Hux sighed, “This is why I’m not a dog person…” 

Poe looked around the house.  It looked more like it belonged to an old lady than a younger guy’s house.  Everything was neat and tidy with very few decorations.  Hux looked down at them all, “No shoes in the house, they go over there on the mat.  Go sit in the living room.  I’ll get teas started and we’ll get this whole thing straightened out.” 

Poe stared up at him for a second.  What was he supposed to say?  Sorry I crashed your quiet night in because Slenderman chased me around the park while I was dressed as Slave Leia?  Somehow he just couldn’t think of anything to say. 

“Well, go on,” said Hux, pointing to the living room. 

Finn was the first to move, and as soon as he was out of Hux’s earshot he muttered, “I’ve never had tea…what do I do if it’s gross?” 

“Just smile and nod…” Poe muttered out the side of his mouth, “It’s this or Slenderman.” 

“Tea isn’t bad,” Rey offered quietly, sitting on the couch. 

Poe looked at the coffee table and saw the remnants of Principal Hux’s cozy night in.  A really cozy night, with Kylo no less.  There was a blanket, a few empty beer bottles, one of their phones was resting on the table.  He couldn’t think about that right now though.  What should he do first?  He needed to get a tow-truck to get his car unstuck, he had to call his parents, Rey and Finn had to call their parents, and he didn’t know if he had to file a police report or not since he called 911. 

The three of them sat on the couch exchanging anxious looks until Principal Hux came out with a tea tray.  It looked like something an old lady might use with an ornate teapot and flowery cups.  There were also jams and toast.  The Principal stood in front of them and leaned down, looking fierce as usual when he asked, “Now what exactly is going on here?  Start from the beginning.” 

“We were just trying to get home.  We took a shortcut through the park and then these guys dressed up in costumes were chasing after us,” said Rey. 

“I…got freaked out and drove off the path.  My car’s stuck,” said Poe sheepishly. 

Hux seemed taken aback by that, “Are you all alright?” 

“Y-yeah, we’re fine,” said Poe, shocked by the very un-Hux-like display of an emotion that wasn’t annoyance. 

The Principal looked them over, “I’ll get a phone book so you can call for a tow.  Have you rin- called your parents?”

“No, not yet,” said Poe.  He was fairly certain his parents weren’t going to kill him, but he had never driven a car off the road before.  This might just be something big enough for them not to tolerate.  It didn’t seem like something his parents were capable of, his dad especially was really chill, but still, it was a car and he had been responsible and his friends nearly got hurt. 

“Well, call them.  Use my phone if you need to.  I’ll be right back,” said Hux.  He glanced at the TV, “Feel free to watch that.  It’s Star Trek, I suppose.” 

As soon as the Principal was out of the room, Poe took out his phone, “Moment of truth I guess…” 

“Yeah, my mom’s going to freak out.  She’s always worrying.  I just hope I don’t give her a heart attack,” muttered Finn.  He glanced up at Poe, “This isn’t your fault, alright?  We would have been fine if those morons hadn’t been out there.” 

“Still, I feel bad…” mumbled Poe.  He looked over at Rey, “Can you call home?” 

“I texted…” said Rey, pocketing her flip phone. 

“Still, you should call.  This is sort of an emergency, you can use mine if you want,” said Poe, not minding putting off the call to his parents a moment longer. 

“No, it’s…I shouldn’t,” said Rey. 

Poe froze, “Shouldn’t?  Come on, I know it’s late but this is really-”

“Look, it’s a bad idea, I really shouldn’t call,” said Rey. 

Poe tried not to look dumbfounded as the situation suddenly dawned on him.  Everything he knew about Rey sort of started to click into place and he wondered how he had never noticed before.  He held onto his phone and said, “Oh…uh…maybe text again?  Say you’ll stay overnight at my place?  If my parents say yes.” 

“If you could…” muttered Rey, looking at the floor, “I was…sort of going to sneak back in through the window but, I don’t think he’ll notice if I’m missing for a day.  He’ll just think I’m working or doing something at school.” 

“It’s fine, I’ll just call and ask,” said Poe, trying to stay calm.  He had always heard about this, like in fairy tales about wicked step-mothers.  He didn’t think that sort of thing happened anymore, at least not to people he knew.  How long had this been going on?  Since Rey moved?  Part of him didn’t want to think about it, and clearly Rey didn’t want to talk about.  She always seemed so nice and seemed to want to act like nothing was wrong.  For one of the few times in his life, Poe’s gut wasn’t telling him what to do. 

He knew he had to call his parents though.  He took a few uneasy breaths as the phone rang.  His dad picked up, “Hello, Dew Drop Inn.” 

“Uh…hi dad,” said Poe quietly. 

“Poe?  Are you alright?” came the quizzical reply. 

“I um…I’m fine, and so are Finn and Rey, but I um…I had an accident,” said Poe. 

“And you’re okay?” repeated his dad. 

“Yeah, I’m at Principal Hux’s house.  It’s sort of a long story, but we’re at thirty-four Gleeson Drive,” said Poe. 

“I’m on my way right now.  You just sit tight, okay?” said his dad. 

“And um, Rey needs a place to crash tonight.  Can she come over?” asked Poe. 

“Sure, just give me a while to get there, that’s on the other side of town,” his dad replied. 

“Okay…I love you guys,” said Poe. 

“Love you too, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” 

Poe mumbled another quick, ‘bye.’  Finn was busy promising his mom that he was okay and he was safe and everything would be fine, he just needed a ride home.  Rey was staring at the empty bottles.  Poe coughed before he said, “So, uh, it’s okay if you stay overnight.  It’s not like we don’t have room.  My dad runs a motel.” 

“The one near The Outer Rim?” asked Rey, “My boss sometimes takes me there.  They have good fries and wings.” 

“They do,” said Poe.  He started as something brushed up against his leg.  Looking down, he saw it was a little orange cat.  He arched his brow, “Oh, right, he said he had a cat…” 

Rey looked around the room and furrowed her brow, “Hold on…I think I know that cat.” 

“You know Principal Hux’s cat?” asked Poe. 

“Go on your phone and google ‘prettymissmillie,’ all one word in lower case and, ‘instagram,’” said Rey. 

Poe gave her a confused look, but he did it anyways.  He tapped the first result that came up and his jaw nearly dropped.  Right there was a big photo of an orange cat on Principal Hux’s coffee table, sniffing one of the empty beer bottles.  Underneath was a caption, _‘The human left his rubbish on the table.  Not sure I approve of the smell.’_

Poe arched his brow and scrolled through the pictures.  Principal Hux.  Hard-nosed-no-fun-no-nonsense Principal Hux was the mastermind behind a ridiculously cute kitty cat Instagram account.  He held it up for Finn to look at as he hung up, “Dude…” 

Finn’s mouth hung open slightly, “…dude.” 

“Right!?” said Rey, “I’ve been following Millicent since before I moved here.” 

Upon hearing her name, the cat looked up at Rey and mewed inquisitively.  Rey leaned down and pet the cat, “I’ve always wanted a pet.  I could never have one of my own since I change homes so often.  I follow blogs like that one so I can sort of pretend.” 

“Well, you’ll find no shortage of cats on the internet,” said Finn, looking at the cat disbelievingly. 

“I’ve found the phone book.  Call whichever one you think might be best,” said Principal Hux, entering and laying the phone book on the table, opened at the yellow pages.  He glanced over at them, “What’s got you lot so quiet.” 

“Nothing!” said Poe, closing the browser window on his phone, “Absolutely nothing.  We called our parents and they’ll come pick us up soon.  And…you have a cat.  I didn’t know you had a cat…who kind of looks like you.” 

Hux arched his brow and folded his arms across his chest, “Her name’s Millicent.  She’s three.”  He leaned in closer, “And I expect that this will be kept amongst ourselves.” 

“Sure…we can be secret cat friends,” said Poe, picking up the phone book.  He sighed.  At least he didn’t need a tow all the way to the mechanic’s.  His car was pretty much fine, it was just stuck.  He stood up, “I’ll just go to the kitchen to do this, I guess.” 

Principal Hux stuck the tips of his finger and thumb in his mouth and gave a whistle.  Millicent’s ears perked up and she bounded over to him.  She stopped at his feet before jumping up into his arms.  Hux looked over the students, “You do that.” 

Finn stared, jaw dropped as he said, “You trained a cat…” 

“Why does everyone think that’s odd…?” mumbled Hux while he stroked his cat. 

Rey’s phone started buzzing.  She looked down at the caller ID and looked up anxiously, “Is there somewhere private I can take this?” 

“I think the bathroom is still free,” said Hux. 

Rey nodded and got up to find it, leaving Finn alone with the domineering Principal. 

Finn flinched as Hux sat on the other end of the couch.  It might have been the goth outfit, or the cat, or the fact that he owned an old lady-ish tea set, but the Principal wasn’t quite so scary like this.  He was still plenty scary, but it seemed some of the imposing edge was taken off of him.  He looked young, bizarrely so with none of his hair pulled back.  And the cat seemed to like him, so he couldn’t be all that bad. 

“Vanen.” 

Finn stiffened and stifled a squeak. 

“You volunteer at an animal shelter don’t you?” asked the Principal. 

“Um…yeah,” said Finn. 

“I order Millie’s food online and there was a mix-up a few weeks back, so I have a massive bag of cat food that I’m never going to use.  If I wanted to donate it, would I just drop it at the front desk?” asked Hux. 

“Um…sure, you could do that,” said Finn.  Gathering up a little courage he also mentioned, “We could also use extra cat litter, if you have any of that.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind,” said Hux, more focused on Millicent than anything else. 

“She’s a nice cat, and I know my cats,” said Finn. 

“Of course she is,” said Hux proudly, scratching his cat under her chin, and talking in that weird voice that owners tended to use with their cats, “Because naughty behaviour is abhorred and will not be tolerated.  No it won’t.  Not in this house.” 

Finn stood corrected.  Even with the stupid baby-talking voice, a cat in his lap, and the least intimidating outfit on the planet, Principal Hux was still a walking terror. 

   ***  

“Alright, thanks, bye…” 

Poe hung up and let out a loud groan, hanging his head on the kitchen counter.  Tonight was just supposed to be silly and fun.  And then Slenderman ruined it.  He supposed it could have been worse.  Nobody was hurt, and they managed to find an okay place to hole up. 

And then he found out Rey was having trouble at home.  How could he seriously not have noticed that?  How could nobody have noticed that?  It might have been easier if she had said something, but really, he should been able to figure out that something was off.  It all made sense though, especially with her being so weird about not wanting anyone to pick her up or drop her off at her house. 

Then Rey came down the hall with a big smile on her face.  She saw Poe and tried to cover it up as she said, “Well, it seems I would have been spending the night somewhere else no matter what.” 

“Did something happen?” asked Poe. 

“Yeah, it looks like I’m moving again,” said Rey, smiling slightly, “I’m going to be staying somewhere else for a little while, but they’re going to try to find a new foster who lives close to the high school so I can at least finish the semester,” explained Rey. 

“So…what exactly happened?” Poe repeated. 

“I don’t know, surprise inspection I guess,” replied Rey, “I was determined just to stick it out so I could keep going to the same school for a while, but I think I like this outcome better.” 

“I think I like it better too,” said Poe, “And you’re still okay to come over tonight?” 

“It took some arguing, but yeah, it’s fine,” said Rey. 

“Well, good, I hope things are going to be better from now on,” said Poe, “And if you need anything, like I said, we’ve got a lot of space.  You can stop by any time you need to.” 

“Well, truth be told, I hope I don’t need to, but I do want to hang out more,” said Rey, “Though…maybe something with a bit less adventure next time.” 

“Yeah, let’s just go to a movie or something,” laughed Poe. 

The front door burst open and the Art TA tossed a guy in a suit with a half removed mask onto the floor.  Poe and Rey stood stunned as Kylo towered over the guy, panting.  He looked up and shouted, “Hux, I found the guy!” 

Principal Hux stomped into the room, “Please tell me you didn’t…Kylo no!  Put him back right now!” 

“But I caught him!” shouted Kylo. 

“No!  No!  This is how you get yourself sued!  Put him back outside!” Hux shouted back.  Millicent dropped to the floor, shocked, and looking very put out that nobody was paying attention to her anymore. 

“But he was chasing people and I caught him!” argued Kylo. 

“But he wasn’t chasing _you_!  So when the lawyers get involved, they can spin this back on you for going after someone unprovoked!  Put him outside!” Hux countered. 

“But I caught the bad guy!” insisted Kylo. 

“Well you’re not holding him captive in my house!” shouted Hux. 

“Look, just let me go and I’ll turn myself in,” groaned the guy in the Slenderman costume on the floor. 

 “Damned right you are!” shouted Hux, his accent starting to do something weird as he got even more heated, “Who exactly the hell do you think you are!?  Chasing people through a park in the dead of night!  You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you degenerate waste of flesh!  You absolute miserable wretch of a human being, I hope you feel perfectly horrid about yourself!” 

Kylo remained silent for a moment as ‘Slenderman’ looked up at Hux in abject terror.  When he found his voice, Kylo quietly said, “You’re really hot when you’re mad and your accent slips.” 

“ _Haliwr!”_ the Principal shouted.  He heard sirens somewhere in the distance, “Just put him out on the porch and for goodness sakes never drag a delinquent like that into my house again!”   

As the Art TA dragged his prisoner back out the front door, Hux turned and clutched the kitchen counter, “I need a drink…” 

Poe and Rey watched him for a moment, not really sure what to do with this newfound knowledge.  It seemed the Art TA and their Principal were dating.  Poe knew Kylo liked Hux, but hadn’t thought that anything had come of it when he sent the TA chasing after Hux in a taxi cab.  Poe also couldn’t help wondering how that worked.  Hux was asexual, or at least said he was, but he was pretty sure that Kylo wasn’t.  He shook his head and tried to get the thoughts out of his head.  He didn’t want to think about those two having sex with each other. 

Hux looked over his students and stiffened slightly, “…of tea…where was that tea.” 

“It’s okay if you wanna drink,” said Poe. 

“It’s rude if I’m not offering you any, and you’re all underage,” said Hux, going through a cabinet to get another teacup.  He looked at Poe, “When should your parents be getting here?” 

“My dad’s coming from across town,” said Poe. 

“And you have arrangements?” Hux asked Rey. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m going to stay with Poe’s family tonight,” said Rey. 

“Good.  I expect you’ll want to rest up before your next move,” said Hux, taking his teacup and going into the living room, “Gracious Vanen, what’s wrong with you?  You look like your expecting to be confronted with an axe murderer.” 

“He probably does…” Poe muttered out the side of his mouth, knowing how terrified Finn was of the principal, and all the yelling probably hadn’t helped.  He sighed, “I’m gonna go rescue my Gummybear.” 

“I didn’t tell him I was changing fosters…I just found out,” said Rey. 

Poe shrugged, “Maybe they called the office to update your file.  I’ve been called in enough times to know he keeps a file with everyone’s emergency contact information.”  

“Maybe, but…” Rey shook her head, “It’s fine.  Go rescue Finn.” 

Poe shrugged and charged into the living room, “What did I say about ragging on my Gummybear!?” 

   ***  

Kylo walked back into the house feeling very pleased with himself.  He’d successfully defended his boyfriend and students from some creep in the woods, and while the police weren’t as impressed with him as Kylo had expected them to be, the situation was solved.  Hux hardly seemed the sort to swoon or give him a celebratory kiss on the cheek or cry out, ‘My hero!’ but Kylo could dream.  And maybe Hux could be persuaded to be just a little bit proud of him.  He did just help arrest an internet-meme after all. 

He walked back into the house and spotted Rey.  Instantly his moment of triumph was ruined and displaced by the horrible awkwardness he had felt earlier that day.  He had never thought he was coming across as creepy.  He knew sometimes his temper got out of control, and that one time he blacked out.  He expected her to think maybe he was a bit of a jerk, that would have been fair, but not creepy.  Was he creepy?  Did he look creepy?  Was that why Hux was so determined to make him dress up?  He didn’t think he looked creepy… 

“Hi,” said Kylo. 

Rey looked up from a text she was writing on a flip phone that looked like it might have been a relic from the mid-two-thousands and glared before looking down, “Hi.” 

“Look, about the thing that happened at the dance…” said Kylo. 

“You apologized and you have a condition, I know…” mumbled Rey, keeping her attention on her phone. 

“Okay…well…good…” muttered Kylo, inching his way towards the fridge, trying not to look creepy.  He pulled out a carton of juice in the least creepy way he could imagine.  Then he got a glass, frequently looking over at Rey to make sure she wasn’t looking at him and thinking that he was creepy.  Then he poured the juice, watching Rey, just to make sure that she wasn’t looking up and thinking that he might be- 

“Oh my god, what is your problem!?” Rey hissed quietly. 

“I’m trying to be nice to you!” Kylo hissed back, slamming the carton of juice down. 

“Could you please stop staring at me?  I’m just trying to text!  Do I text all wrong too?  Is that why you won’t leave me alone?” Rey shot back quietly. 

“I just think that maybe if you paid attention to what I say in class and when I give you advice, maybe you can do better, sorry for doing my job,” growled Kylo. 

“You know, at first, I tried doing that, and it still wasn’t good enough for you,” accused Rey, “Sometimes you said things that didn’t even make any sense!  I have no idea what your problem with me is, and I don’t care if you can’t get fired because of your boyfriend, but-”

“Hey, leave him out of this,” said Kylo. 

Rey started slightly.  Something in his tone was different.  He wasn’t growling or angry or yelling, he was surprisingly calm.  No, Kylo Ren was never exactly calm, even now, but he seemed less likely to start screaming and throwing things.  He glanced at the doorway that lead to the living room before saying, “He…tried to get me fired…” 

Rey arched her brow as Kylo continued, “We agreed before we started that business was business and personal was personal, and he told me what I did was…well, he said a lot of things, but it was really bad.  A lot of parents were angry and wanted me gone.  If I had been fired I would have deserved it.  He thought after what happened and the fallout it wasn’t good for me to stay, so he took the case to the Super Intendant.  I was mad, but I couldn’t blame him and…look the point is he’s on your side, so, maybe leave him out of this?” 

Rey sighed and shoved her phone in her pocket, “I just don’t know what I did to make you pick on me all the time.  What did I ever do to you to deserve that?” 

Kylo seemed like he was about to say something before he stopped himself.  Rey knew that there was something going on between him and her boss, since Kylo flew into that blind rage at the mention of him.  He might have been able to say something about that before he turned on his heel in a huff and grumbled, “I’m a jerk, alright?  Is that what you wanted to hear?  I need to check on my cranky boyfriend.” 

He stalked past her and Rey resisted a frustrated groan.  The TA might as well have been a student.  He acted enough like a teenager, all grudges and drama and ridiculous behaviour.  Finn, and even more surprisingly Poe, had more moments of maturity than Kylo did.  She just didn’t know what she had done to deserve the constant criticism and sour looks. 

Rey rounded the corner and felt like something of a fifth wheel.  Kylo was trying to get Hux’s attention while Hux did something with his phone and Poe seemed to be trying to keep Finn from freaking out whenever Principal Hux made a sudden movement.  She settled on waiting near Finn and Poe and sighed. 

Millicent came up to her though, sniffing her feet, probably taking in the smells of the park, her school and house on them. Rey looked at Hux.  He wasn’t really looking, so she bent down and picked the cat up, dropping Millicent in her lap quickly.  The cat looked up at her, eyes wide, as if Rey had done something audacious.  Rey tried to salvage the situation, scratching the cat under the chin and petting her quickly to try to make her stay.  She’d never gotten to have a pet before, not a real one.  She’d had a tamagotchi once, and some stuffed animals over the years, but she’d always wanted a real one. 

She cuddled the cat, who seemed to have forgiven her for picking her up.  She’d had no idea that she’d been following her future principal’s cat when she first found Millicent online.  She thought maybe it was some really bored housewife taking pictures of her cat.  It was sort of weird, actually meeting a cat she’d been following on social media and had known since she was a kitten.  She could recall looking at lots of pictures of Millicent and watching videos when she was upset, just wanting to shut out all the badness and indulge in pictures of fluffy orange cats. 

Millicent settled into her lap, looking over at Hux, almost accusingly as Kylo seemed to be trying to wedge himself under Hux.  She looked over at Finn and Poe, nodding in Kylo’s direction and mouthing, ‘What the hell?’  Poe shrugged and Finn mouthed back, ‘No idea.’ 

Rey shrugged back and turned her attention back to Millicent.  She knew it was impossible, but she really wanted to take the cat with her.  Or any cat really.  One of her resolutions for when she moved out was that she would get her very own cat and she never felt it more strongly than she did now.  Come hell or high water, she was getting a cat. 

The doorbell rang and her resolve wavered as Millicent leapt away, digging her back claws into Rey’s leg as she bounded towards the door.  Hux was following after her, and with nobody to lean against Kylo fell head over heels, nearly face first into the chair Hux had been sitting in.  Hux called after Millicent, “No, Millie!  You’re an indoor cat!” 

Kylo looked over at the three of them as he lay at an awkward angle, face pressed into the seat of the chair, “You three saw nothing.” 

“Uh-huh…” said Poe, sporting a wicked grin. 

“Vanen!  You’re mother’s here,” called Hux so sharply that Finn nearly squeaked again. 

Poe patted his boyfriend on the back as they both got up.  Finn shook a little bit as he went through the little doorway into the kitchen area, “Hey mom.” 

“Finn!  I was so worried!  You were in a car crash!?  How’s Poe?  Do you need to go to the hospital?” asked Finn’s mother, her questions all came out rapid fire as she inspected her son for injuries. 

“I’m fine mom!  We didn’t crash, we just got stuck in a ditch, I told you that,” corrected Finn, “Nobody needs a hospital, I promise.  It’s no big deal.” 

“You’re my big deal,” said his mom, pulling Finn into a hug, “And I’m glad you’re okay.” 

“Mom…in front of everyone?” mumbled Finn. 

“Yes,” said his mom bluntly, giving another squeeze before looking up at Hux, “Thanks for letting him stay here.  Is your father home?  I’d like to thank him.” 

Hux paused for a moment, “My father’s been dead for three years…He’s buried in Cardiff.” 

Finn’s mother looked at him for a moment before suddenly breaking off in a high pitch shrieking laugh, clapping her hands once as she came to her realization, “Oh my god, I didn’t recognize you with that hair!  Where’d you get that done?”

Hux, speechless, pointed over at Kylo. 

Finn’s mother’s jaw dropped slightly, “Is that the crazy TA that lobbed a speaker at a bunch of kids?” 

“He has a condition…” Hux muttered lamely. 

“Right,” hummed Finn’s mom, looking at the pair of them accusingly and pulling her son in closer, “Well you better keep him and his condition away from my son.” 

“Yes, we’ve been working on that, ma’am…” said Hux, glaring over at Kylo. 

“Come on Big Deal, let’s get you home,” said Finn’s mom, patting her son on the arm.  She looked over at Hux, “Thanks again for looking after Finn, but I mean it about that one dialing down the crazy.” 

“Yes…” said Hux awkwardly. 

It then occurred to Finn that maybe, just maybe, there were people that even Principal Hux could be intimidated by.  Though that didn’t stop Finn from mumbling, “Do you have to call me that in front of people?” 

“Let me think…yeah, I think I do,” said Finn’s mom.  She looked over at Poe, “And are you going to be okay getting your car to a shop?” 

“Yeah, I can handle it,” said Poe quietly.  He hadn’t really been thinking about the cost of a tow or any possible repairs, but now that he was, it dawned on him that this little misadventure was going to completely clean him out.  It wasn’t that big of a deal, it wasn’t like he couldn’t earn more money somehow, but the thought of those big numbers and the sudden, unexpectedness of it all made his skin crawl a little. 

“Well if you or your folks need anything, just give us a call, alright?” said Finn’s mom.  She glanced over her shoulder at Hux, “Thanks again Red.” 

As the door closed, Principal Hux wondered out loud, “Why does everyone think they can call me that?” 

“Your luxurious flaming locks?” suggested Poe.  Hux turned around and glared at him.  Poe continued, “What?  You have nice hair.  It’s all pretty and red.” 

“In fairness red hair is fairly uncommon,” added Rey. 

“And it’s pretty,” said Kylo, ruffling his fingers through Hux’s hair. 

Hux groaned and swatted the hand away, “Dameron, when are your parents coming?” 

“My dad’s coming from work on the other side of town, you know where that is,” said Poe, shrugging slightly.  He thought about Kylo catching a taxi and following Hux all the way across town to confess to him.  He still wondered how that was even supposed to work.  Hux was ace, so he wasn’t attracted to Kylo, so how could they be a couple if one person wasn’t attracted to the other that way?  Somehow they were doing okay, as okay as the two of them ever could be, and they seemed happy.  He just didn’t get it.  It was like in algebra when suddenly letters were actually numbers.  It made no sense. 

“Suppose I’ll make more tea…” Hux muttered, “You three just sit and relax.” 

“Or you could let me help,” said Kylo more firmly, “Come on Hux, I know how to boil water.  Let me do something here.” 

“I am letting you do something, you look after them,” said Hux quietly, as if he thought Poe or Rey wouldn’t be able to hear them say it. 

“No, you sit, I’ll make tea, you made the last pot,” insisted Kylo. 

Principal Hux looked ready to have a conniption. 

“Uh…maybe he should make the tea,” suggested Poe. 

“Go take care of your cat, I’ve got this,” said Kylo, leading Hux to the living room, “Just sit and wait for Poe’s dad to come and watch some Star Trek.” 

“You like Star Trek?” asked Rey. 

Hux looked at her uncertainly, “I liked the first one.  I’m not so certain about this new lot.” 

“Just wait until Data gets a cat,” assured Poe. 

   ***  

It didn’t take long for his dad to arrive, but until he did, Poe did a lot more thinking.  Mostly about the impending massive repair bill he would have to deal with, but about other things.  Like how weird this night had gotten and how somehow everything had mostly worked out.  His grades were still mostly a wreck, but Finn was helping him with that.  He could probably hit Rey up for advice too, Rey was pretty smart. 

He was also considering going to the student resources.  He had mostly considered them a joke.  Resources was there for the dumb kids.  Nobody wanted to go there because it meant they couldn’t figure things out for themselves.  But at the same time, nobody wanted to go to the Principal’s office because it meant they were in trouble and the Principal was a hard-ass anyways.  That’s what Poe had thought, but he’d clearly been wrong.  Principal Hux was still a hard-ass, but he was a hard-ass who gave a damn.  And if he was in charge, maybe there was someone, somewhere in the school who could help him.  He just…didn’t want to admit that he needed the help. 

“I hate being old,” Poe mumbled to himself as Millicent walked over his lap. 

“For god’s sake you’re not even twenty yet,” Hux shot back. 

Kylo peered into the room, “A car just pulled in.  I think it’s for you two.” 

“Alright, get your things,” said Hux, getting to his feet.  He looked down at himself and sighed, “I can’t wait to wash all of this off.” 

“Um…about that.  See, henna…stays for a little while?” said Kylo, trailing off slightly.

Hux looked at Kylo and glared at him.  There was a deafening moment of silence before the principal quietly asked, “…what?” 

“Uh…just a couple of weeks?  Nobody’ll see it if you wear those collared shirts,” said Kylo, backing away nervously. 

“Weeks!?” demanded Hux.  He dashed out of the room to follow Ren.  Poe watched a smile cross Rey’s face and heard a bunch of slapping noises and what they could only assume was Welsh swearing. 

It all stopped when the doorbell rang.  Poe followed after as he heard the door being opened and rushed to his dad.  Kes Dameron breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped an arm around Poe, “Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine, and the car’s mostly fine, it’s just in the park,” explained Poe. 

“Well the car can be replaced, you can’t,” said Kes.  He looked up, and the more familiar, mischievous smile returned to his face as he spotted Hux, “Wow Huxy…wild party tonight?” 

“I am never dressing up for this damned holiday again,” growled Hux, “And it’s just Hux.” 

“And Kylo, good to see you guys still hanging out after the last time.  You guys are welcome back any time you know,” said Kes.  He snapped his fingers and looked at Poe, “I’ve got it, we could pay them back with a little stay-cation.  Put them up in a nice room for a weekend.” 

“That won’t be necessary…” grumbled Hux. 

“You looked after Poe, I’ve gotta pay you back somehow,” replied the man staunchly, “Well, if you’re not interested in a room, maybe dinner?  It’d be nice to have you both over.” 

“Dinner would be great,” said Kylo before Hux could growl anything else. 

“Daaaaad,” Poe pretended to whine, “My teacher and Principal visiting my house will be weeeeeeird.” 

“As weird as this?” asked his father. 

Poe paused, “Not really now that you mention it…” 

“And this must be Rey.  I’ve heard a lot about you from Poe, it’s like I know you a bit already,” said Kes, offering a large hand out to Rey. 

“Nothing bad I hope…” said Rey as she shook his hand shyly. 

“No way, all good stuff.  If I didn’t know better I’d say Poe had a little crush on you,” replied Kes. 

“Okay, it was weird before, now it’s just really weird,” complained Poe. 

“I know you’re with Finn.  The little shrine in your closet made it abundantly clear,” said his dad. 

Poe whispered to Rey, “He’s being sarcastic, I don’t really have a shrine in my closet.” 

“I sort of guessed,” replied Rey. 

“So everything’s alright?  Nobody’s forgotten a coat or shoes or anything important?” asked Hux. 

“No, we’ll be alright and…thanks for letting us stay here,” said Poe. 

“You’re…welcome,” said Hux, trying to keep what sounded like suspicion out of his voice. 

“Then…I guess I’ll see you at school,” said Poe. 

“See you,” said Rey. 

As Poe closed the door behind him, he heard Hux mutter to Kylo, “We’re never having children.” 


End file.
